Chaos of the Potter Family
by TheGirlWithFarTooManyIdeas
Summary: 6th year AU. Dumbledore messed with Harry's family even more than anyone suspected. Ginny discovers that she was born Guinevere Potter. Harry discovers that, in a twisted system, the power of having multiple houses to his name is undeniable. He sets out to turn this twisted system against itself; and maybe restore the nobility of the former kings. Harry/Luna/harem, dark
1. Chapter 1

**The Chaos of House Potter**

 _ **Wanda: I don't know if you remember Lord and Lady of the Past and Future, but I ended up taking the story down because I found I had nowhere for it to go. But I really did want to work with the concepts of abusing a corrupt system to protect the innocent, along with secret magic countries. Now, I'd like to shout out thanks to garaa king of the sand, who is awesome to brainstorm ideas with and gave me this outline. This will be a multi pairing fic, there will be some surprises in there, and I hope you all find it interesting!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

 **Chapter 1: Ginny – Guinevere**

Ginny Weasley was bored, tapping her fingers against the wall of the Gryffindor Common Room. She had just been released from the Hospital Wing after two days, having finally been declared free of injury. Neville, Hermione and Ron were still there, though Luna had been released first since she had sustained the least number of injuries. Dumbledore had come in to visit them, intoning that now 'everything was in order...do not worry. I shall carry things from here'. Her mother had naturally sent a howler over her decision to help Harry with his vision of Sirius's death. _Of course it hadn't ended up mattering,_ Ginny thought sadly. _Sirius died anyway in the ambush. If only Dumbledore had shown up alongside the initial Order of the Phoenix drop. He probably could have ensured Sirius would have survived..._

Harry was distraught, and beyond comfort. He hadn't spoken to any of his friends, and Ginny was willing to give him the space. She couldn't imagine loosing any of her brothers or her parents, and Sirius had been the only real parental influence Harry had ever had. _The Dursleys had failed in that department in every way possible,_ Ginny thought darkly. Fred and George had told her all about _that_ before her first year; the bars they had torn off his windows had still been in the trunk of the car when the twins landed it in their backyard. Harry had been spending most of his time in the very back of the library, or loitering about on the Quidditch pitch, avoiding anyone who attempted to speak to him and hitting Draco Malfoy with a hex when the boy confronted him over the imprisonment of his father Lucius.

Ginny sighed deeply and sat up, rubbing her eyes with tired irritation. She couldn't help but feel a sharp spark of anger towards Dumbledore. _He could have done so much more. He was ignoring Harry every time he tried to call out for help. He never told Harry anything, and then this happened._ She stood up and started to pace around her bed, stepping quietly so as not to awaken any of her dormmates. It was so flagrantly foolish, what had happened all this year, that it left her 'Weasley Temper' on a constant low burn – ready to erupt at too much pressure.

So the thought that entered her mind was a somewhat childish one, ruled by her indignation on Harry's behalf and anger over having had to suffer under Umbridge's rule this entire year. None of the teachers had even tried to stop her, not even McGonagall, who swore up and down that no one was allowed to hurt her lions. Ginny winced slightly and rubbed the back of her right hand. " _I must not be so disruptive_.", faded white scars proclaimed. They weren't as deep and noticeable as Harry's. But the pain had left a mark on her.

Dumbledore didn't want to tell them everything? Then she would just have to steal the information! They needed it, whether he liked it or not.

With that in mind, Ginny quietly slipped out of her dorm and made her way down the stairs. Fred and George had nurtured her liking for pranks. While her mother's disapproval kept her from having her own seat in detention like them, she had made a mark for herself among the teachers. Snape in particular always looked like he had a migraine whenever he saw her enter his class. Which was warranted, since Ginny liked to retaliate for all the cruel, undeserved remarks the dour old man liked to pile on students who weren't his precious Slytherins. She loved using fireworks.

 _I wish I could borrow Harry's invisibility cloak; but I don't want to use it without his permission,_ Ginny thought as she made her way down one of the secret passageways. Filch was still up and about, looking incredibly downcast that Umbridge's lifted bans on student punishments had been removed by Dumbledore upon his return. So Ginny took care to keep out of his way, just in case – he was bound to take his bad mood out on the first person he caught breaking curfew. Slowly she made her way to the gargoyle that sat outside the old man's office.

Fred and George had told her about Dumbledore's weakness for sweets. It only took her three guesses for the gargoyle to slide aside, admitting the stairwell. Ginny cast a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that she hadn't been spotted or followed before cautiously starting into the office.

It was unnervingly quiet...hopefully that meant Fawkes the Phoenix was asleep as well. Ginny knew that Dumbledore had gone away to the Ministry, ostensibly to ensure that Umbridge was punished and Fudge resigned properly. But if he had left his bird behind, then she might have some trouble.

Fortunately for the redhead, when she peaked out from behind the Bannister Fawkes's perch was empty. Letting out a sigh of relief – quietly, still, since there were undoubtedly portraits further back in the room – Ginny climbed up into the room and began walking around, eyeing the stacks of books and papers with a critical eye.

"There's a lot of stuff here...how does an old man remember all of this?" Stepping over to Dumbledore's desk, Ginny bent over and started examining the papers.

"Reinstatement, signed by the Minister...heh, these are all those precious _decrees._ I hope Fawkes incinerates them in front of her eyes later..." Ginny mused as she shuffled through the pages. Her hand bumped against something cold. "Hello?"

Brushing aside some stray papers revealed a silver tray with a number of strange, delicately carved instruments on it. Curious, Ginny picked one up and held it in her hand. It was cool, and touching it made gave her an odd sense of deep sadness. The top was glowing blue. "I wonder what...?" A silver sheen emitted from the object, as if voice activated. Ginny dropped it with a curse, ready to flee, but paused when no outcry followed it. Instead, the silver shadow took the form of...

"Harry?" Ginny hissed in surprise. Sure enough, it was an image of Harry, hanging over a sink in one of the boy's bathroom. He was sobbing intensely, and as Ginny leaned forward, she heard him mutter 'Sirius...'. Her heart ached at the sight. "But...this follows him wherever he is?" She eyed the silver object with some new trepidation. "That's...kind of creepy, Headmaster."

Cautiously placing the instrument back and burying it under papers again – it wouldn't do for anyone to know she had been in here. Ginny shook her head. "So you've been following him even when he's outside school...? Sirius was his guardian. You're only the headmaster. You shouldn't have the legal ability to watch Harry all the time."

The creaking noise of scraping stone nearly caused Ginny to leap out of her skin. Spinning around, she pointed her wand at an emerging... _pensieve_? Lowering her arm, Ginny walked slowly towards it as the stone door fully disappeared into the wall. The bowl was full of memories – nearly sixty times as many as Arthur's, who had mainly kept it to be able to relieve his favorite memories. It made sense that Dumbledore would have more – he was a much older man – but...if there was going to be a place where Ginny could get to Dumbledore's secrets, it would be here.

Putting her arm way, Ginny slowly bent over it and placed her hands on the sides of the bowl, her fingers dipping into the cold water. The memories shivered, pulling older memories to the surface as though they were drawn to her presence. Ginny leaned forward just a bit more, and gasp as she mentally fell into the memory...a memory dating back to 1981.

 _ ****~1981, St Mugos~****_

 _Ginny shook her head, blinking spots out of her eyes as the world came into focus. She looked around in surprise; this was the hospital she had visited not too long ago along with Hermione, Ron and Harry to visit Neville's parents – after all, Neville was a good friend of hers, though nothing more as they had discovered when they danced together at the Yule Ball and discovered there was no spark between them. She had wanted to be there for him._

 _But St Mugos looked different – she didn't recognize any of the Nurses, except for Andromeda Tonks. And it took her a moment to realize Andromeda looked much_ younger _than when she'd last seen her – her face was free of many of the stress lines she had gained, making her look much younger than when she had first met the woman._

 _Ginny let out a small yelp as a nurse passed right through her without giving any sign she noticed her. Taking a deep breath, the redhead began walking forward, uncertain of what she was seeing. "St Mugo's seems fairly empty...that's weird." She muttered._

 _A scream split the air. Ginny jumped in surprised, staring down the hallway to a room to the only room with a door open. Two nurses were rushing towards it, one of them being Andromeda Tonks herself. Curious, Ginny started following after them and entered the room...and may have passed out if this wasn't a memory. Lying on a bed was a beautiful young woman with radiant red hair and green eyes, dressed in a red t shirt. She was screaming and thrashing in bed, her stomach heavy with child. Next to her was a young man with incredibly messy black hair, a pair of glasses over brown eyes, and wizard robes. He was holding the woman's hand, wincing every time she screamed and crushed his fingers in her grip. Standing next to the man was Sirius Black, looking healthier and happier than Ginny had ever seen him except maybe for when he was with Harry in Grimmauld Place. Andromeda Tonks was on the other side, flitting back and forth while keeping that person healthy. Dumbledore was standing in a corner, smiling his usual, somewhat unnerving placid smile with that twinkle in his eye._

" _Lily, please! I can't feel my fingers!" The man begged._

" _GO TO HELL, JAMES!" Lily Potter shrieked in response. "YOU DID THIS TO ME! I'M GONNA KILL YOU WHEN I CAN FINALLY STAND UP!"_

" _It's okay Lily!" Andromeda promised, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder and waving her wand again. "You're doing so well. The baby will be here soon!"_

" _FUCK THAT! THEY'RE_ YOUR _CHILDREN, JAMES! THAT'S THE ONLY WAY I COULD BE GIVING BIRTH TO SUCH WILD BRATS WHO DON'T CARE FOR THEIR POOR MOTHER'S WELL BEING!" Lily yelled, kicking at the air._

" _...Lily Potter...?" Ginny whispered, eyes widening. Slowly, she looked over to the man. "...James Potter...? ...This is...this must be...!"_

 _Lily let out one final shriek, and her cries were joined by soft wailing. Andromeda gently raised up the baby in her arms, smiling. "It's a boy, Lily! You've got a son!"_

 _Gasping, tears rolling down her cheeks, Lily stretched out her arms. "Give...give him to me..." When she was holding the boy, she laughed weakly. "Oh, look at him James..."_

" _Yeah, yeah...I see...I see..." James whispered, reaching out and brushing his fingers against the boy's cheeks. "So...Harry it is, huh?"_

" _Yeah. Harry James Potter." Lily responded between heavy breaths._

 _James gave his wife a small smile. He was crying too. "I'm surprised you wanted to name the boy so bad."_

 _Lily snorted. "I did when I heard the name you were going to give him! Hadrian? Like the emperor? Really, James?"_

" _Can I hold him now?"_

 _Ginny found herself in tears, along with most others in the room._ I have to show Harry somehow, _she thought as she watched the loving family celebrate together._ If only they could have lived together their whole lives! Damn Voldemort! _She brushed her tears away with one hand, only to find the image blurring over._

 _She just saw Dumbledore smile in a way that almost seemed like a smirk. He looked like he had just been handed exactly what he wanted after waiting for quite a while. It was only there for a moment, and the memory was fading, but Ginny was certain she had seen it._

 _Everything faded to white, and the memory ended...only to move on to another one._

 _ ****~1982, Godric's Hollow~****_

 _Now Ginny found herself standing in a quiet little cottage. She recognized the place from many illustrations and descriptions that had been created for it in the aftermath of Voldemort's attack on the Potter family. She stood in a hallway, with some baby toys strewn across the floor._ Harry must have gotten a bit older then... _She thought, when a familiar scream split the air._

 _Ginny stepped into the room where the noise was coming from and saw Lily once again in the throes of childbirth. This time, Alice Longbottom was standing with Andromeda, helping her along. James, Sirius, and Dumbledore (the old man relegated to the corner) were the only other people there._

But this isn't possible! _Ginny thought in shock._ Harry doesn't have any brothers or sisters. Lily shouldn't be pregnant!

" _Why does this hurt so much more than last time?!" Lily asked, terrified. "Alice, is something wrong with my baby?!"_

" _It must be because of the birth stalling potion," Alice said grimly. "We're doing everything we can Lily, just do everything I tell you-"_

" _DUMBLEDORE!" Lily shouted, glaring at the man. "IF MY BABY DIES BECAUSE OF YOUR_ CONCERNS _I'LL BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH A CURLING IRON!"_

 _Ginny found herself both wincing and grinning. Lily Potter really did have spirit, just like her mother had always said. It was a privilege to get to see it. "Calm down, Lils, relax!" James said, hurrying to placate his wife while shooting Dumbledore a nervous look. The older man merely tipped his head._

" _If the worst happens, I'll give you the chance," He said serenely. Ginny found herself shivering at those words. Somehow she didn't think he meant it, which unnerved her. This was Dumbledore, wasn't it? Why would he have delayed this second child's birth? That didn't sound healthy...or safe for Lily, for that matter._

 _Lily screamed, and blood spilled all over the bed-sheets as this child came free. Andromeda quickly took the baby – a girl – and held her while checking for injuries. Meanwhile, Alice rushed to heal Lily, who was bleeding everywhere while James shouted in panic. Ginny found herself looking away, feeling mildly sick to her stomach and unable to watch._

 _Dumbledore, meanwhile, just watched the scene unfolding with a carefully neutral expression, the twinkle in his eyes flickering. A flippant muggle/muggleborn might have described it as 'the Gendo Ikari' look in the not too distant future._

 _After a few tense minutes, Lily gasped and Alice let out a groan of relief. "It's okay, everyone...I've stopped the bleeding." James collapsed bonelessly against his chair, while Sirius finally stopped pacing and wilted, looking almost as haggard as the two parents._

" _My baby?" Lily asked tentatively, looking up at her two Healers._

" _She's right here. Healthy as can be," Andromeda said with a small smile, handing Lily the baby._

 _The moment she saw the child, Ginny felt like she had been hit by a lightning bolt – and every bit of her body was conducting static electricity. Slowly she walked towards the bed – sliding through James while she was at it – and stopped next to Lily._

 _Lily was holding a baby girl with brilliant brown eyes. While no hair had grown in yet, those brown eyes looked a lot like James Potters. But more importantly..._

" _So do I get to name her this time?"_

 _Lily, tired but spirited, stuck her tongue out at her husband. "Since you asked so nicely."_

 _Ginny had seen baby pictures of herself. Molly Weasley had dozens of pictures of each of her children and liked to show them off during family gatherings._

" _Guinevere, then. Our little Princess. Guinevere Lillian Potter."_

 _She was looking at herself._

 ****~Back in the Present~****

The shock of this discovery was so strong it broke the memory connection and sent Ginny stumbling backwards, clutching her chest and gasping for air. The redhead collapsed ungracefully to the floor, the shape of her face changing just enough that one who looked at her would comment how much she looked like Lily Evans/Potter at her age. She felt herself change; her heart soaring as if a secret burden had been lifted off it.

Guinevere Potter. Ginny Weasley.

"I'm their daughter." Ginny gasped. "I'm the daughter of Lily and James Potter."

The words fell upon her like a ton of falling stone, and suddenly and unexpectedly she burst into tears, wrapping her arms around her chest and curling up into a ball, leaning against the stone pensieve as she wept. Her world had shattered around her as if struck by a bombing raid, into millions of tiny fragments she had no hope of ever reconstructing. Initially she wanted to deny it – she was a Weasley, she was the youngest of seven and her parents were Arthur and Molly Weasley – but she had seen her baby face. They were in the memories of Dumbledore, who had known her parents ever since they were children. And most of all, her own magic had reacted to those memories. Had wanted her to realize the truth that had been staring her in the face. Now Ginny remembered her mo-Molly talking about how, after Ron had come into the world, she had despaired of her ability to make another child after a doctor had "erroneously" declared her barren. One of the reason she had so many children was that she had always wanted a daughter.

Lily hadn't given birth to her in St Mugos. She had given birth in Godric's Hollow...only a handful of people were there. It was possible that no one else had known about her – the Potters had been in hiding at the time.

 _But what about Sirius?!_ Ginny argued with herself. _He was there, he would have known about me! But he treated me like a stranger! And Andromeda, she's supposedly my godmother, but she showed no signs of recognizing me...!_

But people's memories could be changed. Erased. Sirius had been in Azkaban for twelve years. Andromeda...Ginny didn't know what had happened to her during the years between the birth and when she had met her this year.

And someone else was there, too. Dumbledore. Dumbledore, who had always been good with mental magic – a prodigy, Hermione always liked to point out. Dumbledore, who had apparently insisted on a birth stalling potion be used on Lily, even knowing it could be dangerous...

Ginny might have hyperventilated at that point, if she hadn't started banging her head against the pensieve stand causing some of the water to slosh over the side and hit her. The coldness, and the memory of where she was, shook her out of her panic somewhat.

 _I am Guinevere Potter,_ she thought, taking a deep breath, standing up and walking over to the large mirror Dumbledore left sitting on his desk. She stood there for a long moment, staring at her reflection. Molly had remarked – several people had, actually – that she looked a lot like Lily Potter. Now, with what she had seen, Ginny found herself agreeing. They had the same face, the same dark red hair. The brown eyes were different, but what she had once attributed to Molly she now saw as a reflection of James Potter – he had those exact same eyes, the same shape and colour, though Ginny still had no need for glasses.

 _It's like the opposite of Harry. He looks like Father with Mother's eyes, and I look like Mother with Father's eyes._

That thought brought her up short. And brought something rather unpleasant to her attention. _I've had a nearly lifelong crush ON MY OLDER BROTHER_.

Ginny slapped both hands over her mouth; the urge to wretch rose as suddenly as the realization hit her brain. Unable to stop it, she vomited on the Dumbledore's carefully maintained carpet, moaning and clutching her stomach. _Oh god, and Mum-Molly-used to croon over how cute it was!_ Ginny thought blearily. Gagging, she pulled out her wand and vanished the mess, desperately wishing she had a mint on hand. She'd have to go bother the twins – the twins who were not her brothers – but were her brothers – she pressed a hand against her chest.

No. She couldn't get overwhelmed here. Shaking her head, Ginny staggered back to the peniseve. She stared down at it, thoughts whirling around her head.

 _Why was I separated from the Potters? Why had I grown up thinking I was Ginny Weasley, instead of staying with them? Had Lily and James given her up when they thought Voldemort was coming after them? I..._ she pressed her hands against her chest. _Does that mean I'm not living with my-the family I thought I had? I-I love them... b-but did they know about this?_

Ginny/Guinevere violently bit her bottom lip. _No. I have to know. Dumbledore was there. If he's kept those memories, he_ must _know what happened. And now_ I _am going to know the_ truth _._

Taking an deep breath, Ginny/Guinevere dove back down into the memories.

 _ ****~Unknown time and place~****_

 _Dumbledore was talking to Trelawney, in a room in the Leaky Cauldron. "Thrice defied him...the power he knows not? You are certain?"_

" _I-I cannot be. I do not remember my prophecies when I give them," The psychic sputtered._

 _Dumbledore resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sure, he had given her a drug that changed her memory – his father had taught him that the information that Seers brought to the world was not for everyone to hear, lest they destroy all that was important with their attempts to either follow it or change it. He had actively searched for prophecy, anything that could give him an edge in this conflict against Tom Riddle – that's why he had fired his former Seer, Pandora Lovegood, when she refused to tell him what she had seen in the future. To give him precedent to search for another with the Sight._

"What will you do if I tell you _?" She had asked him with challenge in her eyes. When he wouldn't give her a straight answer, he eventually fired her in frustration._

 _But Trelawney should be able to remember_ something _, unless her mind was more fragile than he had expected. "Y...Yes. That is it. Neither can live while the other survives."_

" _...I see. You have saved our future, miss. I have a post for you at my school, if you are interested..."_

 _Dumbledore saw a shadow moving out of the corner of his eyes. "Severus?" He called out, hoping the student – if it was who he suspected it was – would stop, stop and listen to reason before delivering this news of potential salvation to Voldemort. But there was no sign of pause, and when Dumbledore stepped out into the hallway, Severus Snape was already gone._

 _ ****~Elsewhere~****_

" _Twins?" Dumbledore mused, listening with one ear as James Potter ranted on and on about Lily's successful pregnancy. "That's strange...the prophecy referred to one child, not two."_

 _The criteria list for those who had 'thrice defied the Dark Lord' was a thin one. Voldemort was viciously powerful, and he did not leave anyone whom he defeated in a duel to tell the tale. Several Order members had been lost taking him on in order to give their companions a chance to escape and regroup. However, now there were four people who fit that description – Alice and Frank Longbottom, and Lily and James Potter. Alice had just recently become pregnant as well, and she was confirmed to be having one child – a boy._

" _But if they were both born on the same night...that must invalidate their candidacy." Dumbledore went on, knowing that no one was listening. Everyone was busy congratulating James, shouting and noise filling the room. "Then there would only be one who fits the prophecy...the Longbottom boy. No, that would not do. I cannot stake the future on a single boy...not until I'm certain he is the one."_

 _Standing up, Dumbledore excused himself from the celebration and went to his books. He knew that it would be a bit difficult to procure what he was looking for, but as far as he could see it was necessary. There were ways of stalling a birth. But convincing Lily to take it, that would be another matter. How to do it without explaining the prophecy...or at least explaining just enough to get her to do this._

 _ ****~Halloween 1991~****_

 _Ginny watched as Dumbledore was warned by alarm on his desk. Picking it up, he looked at the changing colours and sighed. "So Voldemort has completed his quest."_

"You knew." Ginny said numbly. "You knew. You knew it would happen while it was happening?"

 _Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked over to the Floo place. Tossing in the powder, he spoke the name of the cottage and walked through the flames. Since he had been a privy to the 'secret', he easily bypassed the wards and stepped into the house. In the playroom were both Harry and Guinevere, crying in their beds, looking down at their mother. They didn't understand why she wasn't moving. Was she playing a game with them – she had to be. Right?_

 _Dumbledore examined Harry, looking at the scar on his forehead. "And it is set into motion." He muttered. "So those sacrifices have paid off...good. They haven't died for nothing."_

 _Then, without warning, he walked past Harry and took Guinevere from her crib, hidden behind a curtain, before striding back to the Floo. Ginny scrambled after him, and suddenly they were at the Weasley house._

 _Something was wrong with these memories...they were broken up. She wasn't hearing some of Dumbledore's words and what he was doing seemed fragmented and missing pieces. Dazed, Ginny struggled to see through it. Dumbledore had reached her house and was pointing his wand at Molly's head. Arthur was standing nearby, his expression blank._

 _Dumbledore's face was a mess of concentration. Memories that went back for months took quite some finesse to add in without making the victim suspicious. They had to be convincing. Molly had been devastated that she wouldn't be able to get the daughter she always wanted after she went barren after Ronald's birth. He didn't want to kill Guinevere – god no, not a child, perish the thought – but she didn't have a place in his grand plan...yet, at least. This would put her in a proper place for a pure blood girl, but comfortably out of the way._

" _What name have you given your daughter, Molly?" The old man asked with a beign smile and his characteristic twinkle. Ginny felt a ferocious desire to rip his eyes out and stop them into mush under her heels._

" _Ginerva Molly Weasley." Molly said eagerly. "Arthur and I agreed on that since when we first started having children."_

" _I'm happy for you both..."_

 _ ****~Back in the Office~****_

Ginny came out of the memories with a start. Looking down at them, she saw the strands she had been viewing had been damaged. Given the almost carefully made nicks in them, it could _only_ have been done by a cautious hand. And that was likely a security measure...left by the only person who wouldn't want these memories shared.

"You stole my life," Ginny whispered, her fingers digging into the sides of the stone pensieve until they hurt. "You brainwashed the woman I called my mother into thinking she had a child when she didn't. You separated me from my brother. _What gave you the right to do that?!_ "

The last question rose to a shriek, unmindful of the secrecy she had initially entered the building with. One of the nearby portraits groaned and woke slowly. "Headmaster Dumbledore...back already?" Dylis asked slowly.

Cursing at her stupidity, Ginny quickly abandoned the pensieve and ran across the room, desperately searching for a place to hide. Her eyes fell on an alcove under the stairwell up to Dumbledore's personal office and sleeping quarters, just big enough for her to squeeze into and heavily shadowed. Lying down on her stomach, Ginny rolled under just as the door opened and footsteps rang in the office itself. Scrambling into a sitting position, Ginny pressed her back against the far wall, straining her ears, praying she wouldn't be found.

"...thank you for joining me, Percy Weasley."

"Thank you, sir. I'm surprised to find myself here, after the events of this year. I can't believe Fudge was so incompetent, after the image he projected..."

Ginny let out a small hiss. She had liked Percy the least out of her thought-to-be-brothers, but what was he doing here? Now?

"How is your father?"

"Inexplicably ill. The doctors say he may not recover if he doesn't get a proper cure. With both Bill and Charlie overseas, that leaves me as Headship of a Family I thought was full of fools." Percy coughed. "Perhaps not quite so foolish – I saw Voldemort with my own eyes-"

"I haven't brought you here to speak of the past." Dumbledore interrupted, sounding gentle and friendly. It was the same way he had talked to Lily, James and Sirius. Once Ginny might have found that tone comforting. Now it made her reel with disgust and hatred. "I'd like to speak of the present, and the future."

"Ah...okay."

"Sit down, Percy...one of the house elves shall bring us tea."

Ginny suppressed the urge to groan. How long were they going to be there?! The shocks of what she had learned had brought on exhaustion, and she wasn't sure how long her desire to learn the truth would keep her awake. If she fell asleep here she would definitely be caught. And more than that – why was Percy, who had betrayed their family-the Weasley family (it was hard, and hurt, to think like that) because of his distrust for Dumbledore now humouring a discussion with him?

Of course, the idea of Percy having headship over the Weasley Clan made Ginny almost grateful to discover that she was now a Potter.

"I know why you believed in Fudge." Dumbledore said, now with what Ginny recognized to be no small amount of condescension. "Your family hasn't had good money in seven generations. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be, to not have what you desire and scraping by to get what you need."

"What is it to you?" Percy asked sharply. "Are you offering me donations to get sucked into your power play against Voldemort? My family paid for sticking their neck out for you already..."

"I am sincerely sorry you're loosing your faith in me, my child. Perhaps I can restore it with a contract and a promise?"

"How so?"

"You're probably aware that Mr Potter has been struggling with life. There is a very real chance, with Voldemort seeking to destroy him personally, that he may not live much longer." Ginny sucked in a sharp breath. "I hear your little sister is quite fond of him...thus..."

There was a shifting of paper. "A Marriage Contract?" Percy asked.

The two men heard a small noise that sounded almost like something choking for a second. They both glanced around the room, but when nothing obvious presented itself as the source, they wrote it off as one of the sleeping portraits and returned to their discussion.

"Yes indeed. The Potters have a thriving business and have patented several often used potions, including the pepper up. They kept this information under their hats, but because of it they have amassed quite the amount of money over the years. I imagine your family will become quite better off with access to it."

"I...suppose so. Very well. Where do I sign?"

"Come up to my office. We'll knock out all the details there."

Ginny – no, Guinevere Potter - waited on baited breath as the two men walked up the stairwell and passed over her. Once she heard the door click shut behind them, she scrambled out of her hiding place and took off running, bolting towards the exit and leaving the office with speed that would have made Sonic the Hedgehog jealous.

 _I have to tell Harry._ Guinevere thought grimly. She had enough training and knowledge of the pure blood system to know what they would have to do. _We're going to need to have a very busy summer._

 _ ****~Two Weeks Later~****_

 _ ****~At the Dusleys House~****_

It was a week into summer vacation and Harry was loosing himself in the dull sense of loss, grief and anger. He was lying on his tiny cramped bed in the second bedroom of the Dursley Household, having already made dinner and of course not getting to eat anything. He had been to exhausted, emotionally and physically, to push the fact when normally that meant he could eat _something_ he just didn't. Petunia seemed surprised by that, but pleased, because she didn't want even the threat of that freakish magic to be within her perfect home.

Dudley, oddly enough, seemed to be rather concerned about Harry. Every other day, he had come into Harry's room, bringing him snacks and books and trying to start a conversation with him. The experience with the Dementors had opened the young man's eyes to how he had behaved and how other people saw him, and being saved by Harry despite how he had treated him all these years had quite affected Dudley. So now he was attempting to befriend his cousin, defending him from his parent's verbal abuse and usually ensuring that Harry got to eat at least once. He kept encouraging Harry to get outside too.

If Harry had been in a different mood, he would have greatly appreciated it, but he was too wrapped up in his loss. He simply thanked Dudley for his time each moment, and went back to resting. Dudley seemed to understand a bit; he had taken bed rest of his own after his encounter with the Dementors and was willing to give Harry the space he needed, including doing chores for the first time in his life. Vernon looked like his head might explode when he spotted Dudley doing the lunch dishes without much fuss. After all, doing chores was meant for the 'freak', though after several massive fights between father and son that word was being used less frequently.

Few of his friends were sending him letters. While Harry didn't know it yet Dumbledore had imposed a communication blackout on him, saying that Harry needed time 'to sit with his grief and manage it'. However, Luna was speaking to him through muggle post, which he deeply appreciated. Luna spoke to him with candor and emotional intelligence. She had lost her mother Pandora when she was young, and she knew the pain of loosing a loved one. She was probably the reason that Harry wasn't suffering much more than he already was. He wished that he had met her before fifth year, because her support would have gotten him through the year after Cedric's death with more grace than how he had.

If he had been more emotionally balanced, maybe things would have been different. Harry was still cursing himself for not having ever looked at Sirius's present; the two way communication mirror would have rendered the need for a 'rescue' irrelevant. And all because the adults had insisted it would be a 'bad idea'. Hell even Hermione had condescendingly remarked several times that she didn't think Sirius's advice was 'very sound'.

Harry looked over his most recent letter from Luna when there was a caw at the window. Surprised, he looked up to see Pig, Ron's owl, sitting on the windowsill with a letter clamped in its beak. Curious, hoping that his friend was speaking with him again, Harry stood up and gently tugged the letter free, stroking Pig's feathers before sitting down again.

It was from Ginny; there was an ink splotch on the cover as though the letter had been written in a rush and under low light. Puzzled, Harry opened it and began reading.

 _Dear Harry;_

 _I'm writing this to give you a bit of forewarning, and I hope that Pig isn't seen heading to your house. Thank goodness Luna knows a bit more about disillusionment magic. Anyway, the two of us are going to come to your house very soon; I decided on that last night. I've discovered some things about us that you absolutely need to know. It's all a bit hard to believe, so I had to, um, 'borrow' a pensieve from the house in order to keep some proof._

 _Expect to see us soon._

 _-Ginny_

Harry blinked, staring at the letter. "That's odd...what would be so important that she can't tell anyone else?" He asked aloud. "She seems so worried..."

Shaking his head, he glanced out the window. "As soon as possible? I hope they don't get lost on the way here." Briefly Harry wondered how they planned to get here. Clearly Luna had the address of this place, but neither of them had been outside the Wizard world before, right?

His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. "Hey Harry. You have a moment?"

Harry folded the letter and placed it on his desk, swinging his feet over the side. "Yeah, sure Dudley. Come on in." If you had told him a few years earlier that he and Dudley could have been good friends, he would have punched you. If he hadn't died from laughing himself sick, anyway. But it was true! To think that Dementors were actually good for something.

The door creaked open and Dudley stepped inside with an uncertain smile. Harry nodded and returned it as best he could. It had been a year and Dudley looked significantly healthier than he ever had before. Both boxing and regular strength training had drained away all of the excess fat that had been fostered on him by a lifetime of being given anything he wanted. He had grown at least a foot taller as well, his body now leaner and rippling with muscles. While not quite young-Robert Redford competition, Dudley had grown into a rather handsome young man. Currently he was wearing a sleeveless white top with "Don't rush me, I get paid by the hour" written across it in black letters, grey and green gym shorts, and running shoes.

"What's up, Dudley? You look a little distracted," Harry noticed.

Dudley's fingers twitched self consciously. "Well...there's something I want a little help with. You know, just advice and stuff."

"What?"

"W-well, you have some female friends at your boarding school, right?"

"Yeah..." It took a second for the obvious to hit Harry, but when it did, he laughed and grinned at his flustered cousin. "Is there somebody you've got your eye on? Lucky guy!"

Dudley smiled sheepishly, a distant look in his eyes. It was kind of cute, which was another word Harry would have never, ever associated with his cousin before the start of the summer. "Her name's Abigail. She's smart, she's sassy, and she loves her motorcycle. I have no idea how to approach her. I don't want to come across as just some dumb meathead. Can you help me?"

Harry pondered that for a moment before saying, "Well, don't act like you're something you're not. Don't go overboard with the swagger or act like you're Casanova reborn; that's more likely to annoy a girl than attract her, at least in my experience."

"Got it," Dudley said with a look of determination. "Anything else?"

"Ask her about her." Harry said simply. "Ask her about what she likes doing, or her history. See if you have any shared interests. She sounds like a tough girl from what I've heard, so you probably have a few things you can talk about."

Dudley smiled. "Thanks Harry."

"A bit more confident, huh?" Harry watched Dudley head towards the door. "Good luck!"

Dudley grinned. "Abigail runs the biker club around these parts. I'm thinking I might join; I've been saving my money and I've gotten a part time job to support it. Thanks; I'll do my best!" With that, his cousin left the room with a small skip in his step.

Harry chuckled and leaned back against his bed. "Young love, huh? What I wouldn't give for just a little of that..." He sighed. He did have female friends, and he understood them fairly well, but none of them inspired much romantic feelings in him. He didn't know Luna quite well enough, though he did quite like her and it was possible that _could_ change. Hermione could get too bossy and overbearing. There was Ginny, too, and Harry liked her as well – but for some reason the idea of romance with her made his stomach twitch. He had a big brother sense around her.

And the chances of him just running into an Abigail, for lack of a better term, were of course threatened both by Dumbledore's insistence that he train alone, with would cause him to lie to said significant other a lot, and of course Voldemort would happily murder anyone who mattered to him. Sirius's death provided testament to that.

With nothing much else to do but wait for Ginny and Luna to arrive at the house, Harry lay back on his bed and eventually fell into a fitful sleep, plagued by bad dreams and regret.

 _ **~Later that Night~**_

The tapping interrupted Harry's latest nightmare regarding Sirius's death. It was quick, light and insistent. Slowly he raised his head, blinking to focus his eyes in the darkness. Standing carefully perched on his window was Ginny, a serious look on her face. She was carrying a gigantic package under her arm. Her hand was striking the window with obvious intent. Quickly Harry hurried over to the window and opened it as wide as it would go. Ginny climbed in first, then Luna, who had been balancing on the nearby tree branch.

"Hey girls." Harry said, startled. "What are you doing here? I have a sense that you're not supposed to be visiting me."

"To hell with Dumbledore's instructions." Ginny growled. "That old meddler has done enough."

Harry was shocked by her words. He had never heard a Weasley – or indeed anyone – talk about Dumbledore with contempt or anger.

Ginny's eyes flickered. "C'mon. I'll show you what's made me angry." Luna helped her unwrap the bag, revealing... "A pensieve?" Harry asked. The girl nodded slightly, before gesturing to its content. There were a couple memories floating around inside. "These are mine," Ginny explained, "From what I saw when I looked into Dumbledore's dark secrets."

"You what?!"

"It's a long story. I was angry after Sirius died and I wanted some answers about why that prophecy had been so damn important. I ended up finding out."

Luna nodded. "She told me about it. I noticed the wackersprouts that hover around the Burrow have lightened up a bit. This is important, Harry."

Harry, not for the first time, wondered what that meant. Ginny gestured impatiently at the Pensieve, and finally he lowered his head and looked into the memories.

 **~Line Break~**

Harry emerged, gasping with tears at the edges of his eyes. Luna gently rubbed his shoulders while Ginny – Guinevere – sat there and stared back at him, waiting on baited breath for him to respond.

"Y-You're my sister." Harry stammered out at last. "You're my _sister_."

Ginny nodded, and gasped as Harry lunged forward and crushed her in a hug. She buried her head in his shoulders as he shivered, taking in what he now knew. "I had a sister all my life." Harry muttered. "I can't believe...how could Dumbledore never _tell_ me? I could understand leaving you with another family for your protection, but how could he not tell me about you, or that you were alive? Why didn't Sirius tell me?"

"I wondered about that. He was at my birth. I think...I think he was made to forget about me." Ginny said. At Harry's expression, she pointed out, "He already separated us, Harry..."

"A Marriage contract," Harry sputtered, his face turning green as he released Ginny from his hug. "They're trying to marry me to my little sister!"

"Sometimes pure bloods do that," Luna noted softly. "The Black family was famous for it. 'Always Pure', they used to say."

Harry shook his head frantically. "I have to stop this somehow."

"The contract will be filed at Gringotts." Ginny said. "We need to be heading down there anyway; mom and dad's will is probably there as well. There will be a fee for all this, obviously, but the goblins aren't likely to give up classified information to anyone who comes snooping around."

"Good. Then let's go right now." Harry said darkly.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Man, Luna. You are a very fun character, but very hard to write! Well, to all those who point out that Ginny looks a lot like Lily and that's weird - well, there's a reason for that! Again, big thanks to garaa king of the sand, and if you enjoyed Lord and Lady, I'm sorry I took it down, and I hope you enjoy this story in its place!**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: Hello everyone! Wow, I spent basically all morning writing this. That was kind of fun! Hahaha. Don't mind me. Just as a note, there is another author that garaa offered this idea to write one with. Our two stories are seperate, and hopefully will end up going down different paths. With that out of the way, let's get started!**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._**

 **Chapter 2: Lots and lots of Paperwork**

Sneaking out of the Dursleys place was easy enough. Dumbledore had drawn the Order guard who had been watching Harry back to him since Voldemort was out in force. Sure, there were still charms on the house to monitor him, but they wouldn't remark on him being out and about – after all, Harry had to leave to get groceries and such. Harry lead the way, with both Guinevere and Luna on either side of him.

"Okay, the quickest way to Gringotts would be to use the Knight Bus." Harry noted, though he looked down at his wand with consternation. He was already forgetting something. It must be the stress of what he'd just learned. "But if I summon it, Dumbledore and the Ministry will be alerted."

"Then I'll do it." Luna said, pulling her wand out. When Harry opened his mouth to protest, Luna put a finger on his lips and said, "Don't worry. Daddy gave me some anti crumpled hornshack spells for my wand so I can use magic outside of school a couple years ago." She pointed her wand up at the sky, causing the tip to glow white.

A moment later, the Knight Bus exploded into existence. Harry stepped backwards slightly, before looking over at Luna. "That's really cool, Luna," He said sincerely. The blonde smiled brilliantly at him, causing her blue eyes to shine in a way he hadn't seen often. "...Do you think that I can get the same thing for my wand?"

"Sure." Luna responded. "Daddy would be happy to show people what he's made."

The three students walked onto the bus, handing their money over to the new ticket man – a nervous looking young man fresh out of Hogwarts. Guinevere and Harry sat down next to each other, with Harry hesitantly taking her hand and squeezing it. "Do you feel funny about this Harry?" Guinevere asked. "About...us?"

"Well, yeah. Not in a bad way, it's just – I wish I had known that I had a sister." Harry smiled tentatively at her. "But I'm glad you grew up with the Weasleys...you know, even if Molly and Arthur knew they were keeping us apart, they treated you with love and comfort despite not having a lot of money. There's so much happiness in that house. I've always been jealous of that."

"But..." Guinevere blinked at him, confused and slightly hurt. "You didn't wish we had grown up together?"

"Of course I did. I wish that we could have grown up in a normal house with our parents, two normal, happy siblings." Harry sighed, before turning to her and gently brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes. "But you know, it was bad enough with my aunt and uncle treating me like garbage. I never would have wanted them to hurt you too. Growing up with Ron, the twins, Bill and Charlie – they never got to hurt you. I'm happy about that."

"But they hurt _you_!" Guinevere whispered, staring at him with tears at the edges of her eyes. "We never even knew! Ron tried to engineer a crush I had on you for god's sake!"

"I don't think he knows." Harry said comfortingly, though his voice faltered slightly. "I hope," he admitted.

"Oh, it wouldn't be hard to confund Ron into believing something that isn't true." Luna offered, leaning against the poll as they hurtled through the street. "He's a nice person, loyal. But he's not very smart, and he's got a simple mindset. Those kind of people can be confunded without too much effort."

Harry gritted his teeth. "Sorry Luna, but that doesn't make me feel much better...the idea that somebody's been brainwashing my best friend might be even worse then a potential betrayal." His relationship with Ron had been rough in places, but that had been his very first friendship, and it was rather important to him.

"I saw Mum-Molly get brainwashed in Dumbledore's memories. I don't think she knows the truth, and if she doesn't why would Ron?" Guinevere pondered, before faltering. "I suppose, though...dad might know."

"...I guess we'll find out when we deal with that contract." Harry said. "Though since Percy handled it, there's a chance he doesn't know yet."

The Knight Bus screeched to a halt. "Gringotts," The driver called out. Harry, Guinevere and Luna all stepped off the bus, looking up at the building which loomed ominously against the sky. Harry took a deep breath and walked forward, entering the building he had first seen as an eleven year old with a sense of grim purpose.

Harry walked up to the nearest teller he recognized. "Excuse me, sir." He said, drawing the startled goblin's attention. Since when did wizards speak respectfully to them? "Uh...Griphook, sir. I would like to access the documents among my vault. Including my parent's will. I think there should be a copy filed here."

Griphook looked down at his pages for a few moments before smirking. "I was wondering if you would ever appear on our doorstep, asking that question, Mr and Miss Potter."

Guinevere jumped. "You know, sir?"

Griphook waved one clawed hand. "Not here, miss. Come this way, and I'll explain what I can."

The three exchanged a surprised and hopeful look – maybe they were in luck for once! - and quickly hurried after Griphook, who had retrieved a key from his desk and had quickly spoken with a guard goblin at the transport carts. The guard nodded and vanished into a nearby room; Luna heard the click of a released mechanism.

"Come in." Griphook said, gesturing to the cart. When the three sat down and buckled in, Griphook took on the wheel and they burst forward into the darkness of the mine. After about ten minutes, the goblin lead the three into a large vault. The door was opened, revealing Harry's familiar trust vault. However, Griphook walked past it and pointed his finger at the back wall. A door appeared in the wall like the Room of Requirement, which slowly slid open...causing Harry and Guinevere to both gasp, though Luna didn't look very surprised.

There was a massive swath of gold, silver and varying objects. Had Harry read more classic books, he would have compared it to the trove from the Count of Monte Cristo. There was a table set up in the middle of the room, with several files both sitting on the desk and being placed on various shelves around the walls.

"I imagine you have questions, Mr Potter." Griphook said.

"Yes." Harry said, snapping out of his shock. "You knew about my sister?"

"We knew that she existed." Griphook confirmed, "since she was registered with the bank for her own trust fund by the late James Potter. Her vault is still untouched, though not without some effort from an individual who I'm sure you've dealt with extensively. We didn't realize she was now being called Ginny Weasley until one of the Potter Rings glowed. When she walked in with you, myself and my fellow tellers knew what that meant."

"So she was registered?" Harry asked, while Guinevere tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she had been given a trust fund like Harry's, but had never been allowed to access it since she had been separated from her brother.

"Yes, in your parent's will." Griphook said, sitting down at the desk. With a snap of his fingers, two other chairs appeared on the other side of the table. Harry sat down directly across from Griphook, while after a moment of thought both Guinevere and Luna took the other chairs. The goblin teller took out two different sets of papers from one of the file boxes. "Now, this is the one your Ministry had filed in their court."

Harry took the pages and read from it.

 _THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JAMES CHARLES POTTER_

 _WRITTEN AS OF 1980_

 _I, James Charles Potter, being of sound mind and sound body, have decided in light of my possible death, to provide for my wife Lily Marian Potter and my son Harry James Potter._

"Skip forward a bit. The first section deals with assets and decisions that would have been in place if your mother had survived that night." Griphook said. Harry nodded, quickly skimming down to the second section.

 _If both Lily and myself have perished, I hereby appoint my best friend and brother in all but blood, Sirius Orion Black, Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, as godfather and guardian to my son. However, should he be unable to preform these duties, I then pass Magical Guardianship onto Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore, to manage my son's estate until Harry reaches his majority._

 _Said guardian shall administer trust, which will come from my estate and assets. This guardian will handle fifty percent of my family's business affairs and the profit thereof, until my son is old enough to handle it himself._

"Family business?" Harry interrupted in surprise.

Griphook gave him a mild look. "Yes. I recommend you speak to a wizard lawyer before coming back here; I can offer you a list after we have finished our business for tonight. Gringotts mainly handles finances, after all."

"Oh-right. My apologies for interrupting; I hadn't heard about the family business before." Harry explained. Griphook resisted the urge to smile. He was starting to like this wizard, which was something he didn't think was possible. No wizard or witch had been this polite and friendly to him since the late Lily Potter.

 _Said guardian will have the power to arrange where my son goes to school, whether or not he may move abroad, and will be allowed to create marriage contracts him, as is consistent within the context and limits of our Law._

"As you can see, it gives Dumbledore much power over what happens among your family. It was approved by the Ministry following the end of your blood war." Griphook noted. "However, this is a forgery. Your family's real will had been sealed by the aforementioned wizard, stretching his authority as Chief of the Wizamgot."

"God damn it!" Harry spat.

Griphook chuckled darkly. "Of course, he should have looked more closely at the wizard-goblin treaties. He had no right to force us to destroy a will, especially from a family we have done much business with. This is the real will, which we have kept for you." The goblin tossed the false will into a nearby brazier to burn, before handing the genuine article to his client.

"Thank you," Harry said before beginning to read.

 _THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF_

 _JAMES CHARLES POTTER_

 _AND_

 _LILY MARIAN POTTER_

 _LORD AND LADY OF THE ANCIENT AND NOBLE HOUSE OF POTTER_

 _Filed as of August 31, 1981_

 _I, James Charles Potter **and I, Lily Marian Potter**_ **,** _being of sound mind and sound body, hereby make this our will, to provide for our son Harry James Potter, and our daughter Guinevere Lillian Potter in the event of our deaths. Their guardianship, their education, and their allowances are included, to be managed until they have reached their majority._

Again, Harry skipped past the first section that dealt with if either James or Lily had survived the attack from Voldemort. Thinking about the possibility of them surviving hurt his heart, making him think of what might have been.

 _SECTION 2, should we both have fallen:_

 _We hereby appoint Sirius Orion Black, brother in all but blood and heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, to be godfather of both our son and our daughter. In the event that he is unable to preform his duties, we list the following individuals to care for them until they come of age:_

 _Frank and Alice Longbottom_

 _Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood_

 _Alys Davis, should she be divorced from her husband_

 _or_

 _Ted and Andromeda Tonks_

 _Should none of these people be available, Harry and Guinevere shall go to an orphanage, with a member of House Bones monitoring them. Shall a muggle family adopt them, an emissary shall speak to them of our family's past and their household shall be given the best protection that can be provided for them. However, no family in the Ministry shall be allowed to adopt them._

 _ **And under no circumstances shall they go to my sister Petunia Evans and her Husband Vernon Dursley. They are estranged from me and I do not trust them to care for my children.**_

"So I was never meant to go to the Dursleys?!" Harry exclaimed.

"That was the falsified will, sir." Griphook reminded him.

Harry flushed. "Sorry for my outburst. I'm discovering these things as I go along, and I've always kept my emotions close to my chest."

Griphook waved a hand. "Never mind it. Now, shall we continue?"

Harry looked down at the page again.

 _SECTION 3: The absorption of House Peverell._

 _After a century of evidence gathering, it has come to my family's attention that the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell has not, in fact, died out as it was assumed. I, James Potter, am the last living descendant of the youngest son, Ingetious Peverell. Through our blood, I hereby draw his House into my own. In the event of my death, the votes and powers this has granted my family will pass on to my son and daughter – Lord Harry James Potter-Peverell, and Lady Guinevere Potter. My family's two Seats shall be left to their discretion, Harry the Peverell seat, and Guinevere the Potter seat._

"You look confused." Griphook noted as Harry read this. Guinevere, who had been reading over his shoulder, made a choking noise. "Your sister grasps the concept, it seems. Again, I recommend you take this up with a capable and loyal lawyer. Gringotts doesn't have constitutional legal authority, after all."

Harry nodded, unsure of what this meant. Instead, he kept reading.

 _SECTION 4: Marriage Contracts_

 _ **After much discussion with my husband, the backwards and dark world we live in, that no one but myself shall decide marriage contracts for either of my children. None shall be made by the guardians for my children before they either become of age, or become emancipated. I, Lily Marian Potter, have recognized the sanctity of my house (god, that's a load of – what? No James, the self dictating quill was**_ **your** ** _idea!) have prepared these for my son._**

 _ **A Marriage Contract of House Potter. An engagement made between Lord Harry of House Potter to the heiress to House Davis, Tracey Adelle Davis.**_

 _ **A Marriage Contract of House Peverell. An engagement made between Lord Harry of House Peverell to the heiress of House Lovegood, Luna Celeste Lovegood.**_

"Ask your lawyer." Griphook couldn't resist a chuckle as Harry opened his mouth to exclaim again. The boy flushed and glanced over at Luna, who's only sign of surprise was raised eyebrows and wide blue eyes.

"Yes sir." Harry carefully folded the will and returned it to the box. "Is – is there anything more I can ask you?"

"Yes." Griphook picked up another box and placed it on the table. "Again, there are many legal matters you'll need to smooth over, but there are financial additions that have been brought to the attention of the bank. Do you know about the goblin/wizard shared Right of Conquest?"

"No, sir." Harry said.

Griphook smirked. "Originally it was a goblin tradition, but the wizards adopted it after our first 'war', if you would call it that, back in the year 1150. The Right of Conquest allows a victor to claim the house, votes, powers and others of those they have defeated." He removed a box from the file container and placed it on the table, opening it. Six ornate rings were sitting inside – one ruby, one diamond, one emerald, one silver, one sapphire, and one opal.

"The ruby ring is the signature of the Lady of House Potter." Griphook told Guinevere. "That one is for you, Miss Potter. It is a sign of your authority. You'll want to be wearing it when you speak with your chosen lawyer later. Mr Potter, the signet of House Peverell is the opal."

Tentatively, Guinevere took the ruby ring and slid it over her finger. There was a flash of light, causing the children to jerk in their seat, surprised. Several more files appeared on the table. "Ginny Weasley has officially been recognized as the protective identity of Guinevere Potter. Your finances and contracts have been moved back home." Griphook told her.

Harry picked up the Peverell ring, and cast an uncertain look at Luna. The girl, looking oddly serious, nodded in encouragement, and after a moment of thought Harry obligingly slid it on over his right finger.

"So, the other rings?" Harry asked, eyeing them uncertainly.

"House of Potter," Griphook said, pointing at the diamond ring. "The House of Slytherin," He gestured to the emerald ring. "The House of Gaunt." He gestured to the silver ring. "The House of Black." He gestured to the sapphire ring.

Harry's jaw unhinged for a moment. He shook his head and said, "At risk of sounding like a parrot... _WHAT?"_

"You defeated the man called Voldemort three times, did you not?" Griphook asked. When Harry nodded, the goblin explained, "Then that is the Right of Conquest. You have defeated him, and he has shown himself unworthy of the power he has possessed. Thus, the House of Slytherin and Gaunt have come under your control."

"As for the House of Black...well, that's easy. Your godfather, Sirius Orion Black, adopted you into his family shortly before his death. He saw you as the son he could have had, and he did not wish for the money and power that has lain dormant in his family to pass on to his cousin Narcissa Malfoy, her husband Lucius Malfoy and their son Draco Malfoy."

Harry slowly nodded. "You...you said there was a list of lawyers that you had. May we see them?"

Griphood nodded. "Indeed. Of course, there will be a fee for all of this."

"Done, I'll pay whatever you ask for. I owe it to you, sir." Harry said.

Griphook smiled. _I thought there was something about this young man...he's unlike any other wizard I've met. Perhaps, with the power he gains, he'll make some real changes to this filthy, decaying world of the wizards._

After several minutes, the list was brought down to the vault. Griphook handed the paper to Harry, who scanned the page.

 _Owen Parkinson_

 _Dennis Vance_

 _Amos Diggory_

 _Lenore Hydra_

"These are four talented lawyers who are trusted by the bank. However, you'd be wise to note that Vance and Diggory both have strong ties to Dumbledore." Griphook noted.

"And I don't trust Parkinson as far as I can throw him," Harry muttered, before tapping at the last name. "Can you get me in contact with Miss Lenore Hydra? With the understanding that our meeting would be quite confidential?"

"It will add an extra expense."

Harry looked around the room. "Somehow, I feel like I have the change to spare." Guinevere and Luna didn't bother to hide their snickers at this.

Griphook smirked again. "Then come this way. I'll get you in touch."

 _ **~Line Break~**_

Harry walked out the door, looking down at the letter preprepared for him by Griphook. "You look troubled, Harry." Guinevere noted.

"I don't care much for pure blood politics, that Houses are steeped in that." Harry explained, glancing down at his ring. "I'm surprised that my mother seemed to be on board with it...with those marriage contracts..." He glanced at Luna. "Did you know about that?"

Luna shook her head. "I knew that mommy was friends with Lily and James, because she and dad talked about them a lot when I was little. I thought it was possible, but daddy hadn't brought up the contract yet. I think it was because there was no way Dumbledore would allow it."

"Well, after we meet my lawyer..." Harry stalled. "I mean, er, we'll figure something out. Okay?" He glanced up at the sky. "Anyway, you girls better head back home before someone notices that you're missing. I'll send you a note through the muggle mail, be sure none of your adoptive siblings see it yet okay Gwen?"

Guinevere smiled at her new nickname. "I know, Harry." She gave him a hug. "We'll see you soon, alright?"

Harry nodded. He looked very overwhelmed, which prompted Luna to squeeze his hand to share her support with him. "I can't do this alone. I need you two."

"We'll be there." Luna promised in her soft whispy voice. Then, she stood on her toes and kissed Harry on the cheek. The boy flushed deeply, before the girls went down to summon the bus. They went to the Dursleys first, with Guinevere glaring at the place.

"Don't worry," Luna whispered to her best friend as Harry walked down the pathway to the house where he had been abused. "As Ladies, we will be able to give them the justice they deserve."

"Harry said his cousin is kind now," Guinevere noted.

"That's what House Protection is for," Luna responded, smiling in a slightly frightening way. Guinevere knew that 'loony lovegood' was more intense than anyone in Ravenclaw gave her credit for.

 ****~One Week Later~****

Harry grinned when he got the letter and saw 'Lenore Hydra' written across the cover. Quickly he opened it and read it's contents.

 _Dear Lord Potter/Peverell_

 _I'm pleased to hear from you, to be quite honest. My niece has been watching you throughout your school year, and she always suspected something was wrong with your life. I'll be happy to help you out, if you bring the assorted papers along with you. To ensure we won't be disturbed, there's a coffee shop in muggle Britain with a back porch. The address is enclosed. Our meeting is set for 1:00 on Sunday. My niece will be with me, but don't worry – her understanding of the confidentiality is assured._

 _Bring your sister along, since she is Lady Potter._

 _-Lenore Hydra_

"You look excited, Harry." Dudley noted as his cousin hurried down the stairwell.

"Well, my life's looking up for once." Harry said. Noticing Dudley was holding a motorcycle helmet, he grinned and said, "You having good luck too?"

Dudley grinned. "Abigail let me into the club," He said happily. "I've met some cool people there, including her brother Max. I think he's suspicious of my motives, but I hope I'll win him over."

Harry shrugged and smiled. "Well, keep showing them your best side and you'll manage it. Good luck!" With that, he rushed out the door. Dudley smiled, set his helmet on his head, and walked outside, ignoring Petunia yelling for him to come back since the dishes hadn't been done.

Splitting up at the corner, Harry waited at the bench for about ten minutes. At that point, Ginny-Guinevere-emerged from the Knight Bus and hurried over to his side, pulling the ruby Potter ring out of her pocket and sliding it onto her finger. She was dressed in muggle clothes that Harry had sent her a few days ago. "You've got a meeting!" She said eagerly.

"Yeah. She's meeting us in a coffee shop. I think we've found a good lady to speak with." Harry said as they started walking towards the muggle bus stop. "I mean, I don't think even Dumbledore would meet up in a place like that."

"They think it's beneath them," Guinevere grumbled. Then she smiled. "Well, then we won't be disturbed. Who do you suppose her niece is?"

"I guess we'll find out." Harry said as the bus slowed to a stop just in front of them.

Guinevere spent the entire bus ride staring out the window, watching in utter curiosity as the muggle world flowed past. Harry found her fascination adorable, and he started pointing out various landmarks among this neighbourhood, explaining their purposes and their history. Some of the other bus riders looked oddly at the pair, one of whom was explaining the purpose of parking metres to the other. "Must be sheltered," one adult said to his wife. "Shows in the way she's dressed. A little eccentric."

"Nothing wrong with that." the wife said. "Wonder is precious."

It took about fifteen minutes for the two siblings to reach the coffee shop. Harry lead Guinevere into the shop, ordered a pair of hot chocolates and muffins, and then headed out to the back porch. Waiting there were an older woman and a teenaged girl about Harry's age.

"Mr Potter?" The woman asked. Harry nodded. "Miss Potter?" Guinevere smiled. "Lovely to meet you. Both of you, sit." The twosome sat down, Guinevere happily sipping her new favourite drink. The older woman offered her hand, which was shaken. "Yes. You must be Lenore Hydra?"

"Yes." Lenore Hydra was a shorter woman, but there was a strength and intensity to her eyes that easily made up for lack of physical intimidation. She had dark blonde hair, hazel brown eyes and pale skin. She was dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt, black pants and slightly raised heels. She had placed a bag on the table next to her elbow. "Harry Potter, Guinevere Potter, this is my niece, Ayla Hydra."

Ayla raised her head and offered her hand to Harry, who shook it and eyed her curiously. She had shoulder length, platinum blonde hair that fell down just past her shoulders. Her eyes were an intense icy blue, framed by a pale, heart shaped face. She was dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans and running shoes. She was wearing a diamond studded bracelet.

"Hello," Harry said. "I hope I don't seem rude, but I'm surprised you're joining us here."

"There's good time for that." Lenore promised. "First, shall we start talking business?"

Harry nodded, before taking out one of his briefcases. He removed the contract filed by Dumbledore and Percy Weasley and placed it on the table. "Albus Dumbledore signed this contract without speaking to me," He said. "He's arranging for me to marry my younger sister. I can't say if Percy or the Weasleys knew the truth, but Dumbledore certainly does."

Ayla gagged. Lenore gave her niece a mild look before letting out a clipped sigh. "That sounds like him." When Harry gave her a surprised look, she said, "Dumbledore champions for muggleborns, but he allows people like Malfoy, Goyle and Nott to walk free. I'm familiar with him and what he's really like, never you fear."

"We want it voided." Harry said firmly. "I will not marry my sister." Guinevere nodded fiercely in agreement.

Lenore nodded. "I can handle that." She said, handing a paper and pen to Harry. "It's a sworn statement, just sign it and I'll handle the rest. I imagine we want all of this done confidentially. Seal it with your rings to make everything official."

Slowly Harry did as he was told. Lenore eyed him handwriting. "You haven't done much of this, have you?" She asked.

"He's never taken advantage of his status," Ayla told her aunt. "I was pretty sure he didn't even know about it until recently."

"That's true." Harry said. "I never cared much about the pure blood politics, since I always associated it with Draco Malfoy."

Ayla hissed at the boy's name. Lenore's eyes narrowed slightly. "Hm. That would turn anyone off. And it cannot be denied that the system has been corrupt and self serving for several decades now. It is like a Monarchy of the modern day."

"Monarchy?" Harry asked.

Ayla smiled a bit. "There's a couple history books buried in the back of the Black library that could tell you more about that." She said. "A few titles include _The Potter Monarchy, Atlantis,_ and _Mu's Gates._ It's a certainty they're still there."

"Afterwards, Ayla." Lenore chided, before returning her attention to her clients. "You must have other questions, since we still have time on the table..."

"I want to talk about emancipation for myself and Guinevere." Harry said firmly. He pulled out his parent's will. "This is my parents' real will; it was sealed and replaced with a forgery that named Albus Dumbledore my guardian. Now that my g-godfather has died, I want to be emancipated. That man has done enough."

"Hmm." Lenore thought for a moment.

"Is it possible?" Guinevere asked.

"There is precedent for it." Lenore responded with a small smile. "Mr Potter, in your fourth year at Hogwarts you competed in the Tri Wizard Tournament."

"I was forced to." Harry agreed.

Lenore waved a hand. "Be that as it may, you participated in it, you cleared it, and you survived – at fourteen, despite the age restriction listing at eighteen. You fought as an adult and survived as an adult in the eyes of the Goblet's magic. As that was a binding magical contract -" Harry scowled. "-yes, I understand, I would have been furious in your position too – it is within your power to be recognized as an adult. As for your sister, technically she's a part of your household. Emancipation for you makes you the head of the Potter/Peverell household, so she would become your responsibility."

"I...I see."

Lenore smiled, and gave Harry more papers. Once they were signed, Harry said, "When I was speaking with my account manager, he said that the Potters had a family business. Can you tell me more?"

"Oh yes. The Potter family is the biggest titan in the potions industry just about anywhere," Lenore said airily. "You are a very rich pair, you know. Probably richer than the Malfoys, at this rate."

Harry took a deep breath. "Again, this is the first time I've heard of this. In the false will, my supposed guardian was granted considerable control over it. I would like you to look into our assets and see if there are any irregularities."

Lenore raised an eyebrow as she examined the real will again. "I see. That would explain a lot. Yes, I will investigate for you. There will be a bigger fee, but I'm sure that's negligible for you." Harry smiled wryly while Guinevere chuckled. They were both remembering the trove they had discovered in the family vault.

"Good. Thank you." Harry said in relief. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm going to need a lot more headache medicine in the days to come..."

"You'll go mad trying to manage it all by yourself." Lenore informed him. "It would be wise to spread it around once you're back in charge of the family industry."

"I have another important question, again under important confidentiality. It is about the Right of Conquest." Harry said, taking out the box and opening it. He took out the silver and emerald rings and placed them in the middle of the table. "I was told...the family legacies of Gaunt and Slytherin have passed to me due to my defeats of Voldemort."

Lenore stared at him for a minute. Ayla reacted first – bursting out into massive laughter. Harry looked at her with confusion until the silver blonde recovered. "Oh...my lord. You really did it. Hahaha!" She shook her head. "Suck on that, daddy!"

"Ayla," Lenore chided, but Harry's eyes widened.

"D-Daddy?" Guinevere asked uncertainly. "Who are you referring to?"

Ayla glanced at Lenore, who had a slightly conflicted expression. "C'mon, auntie." she said, looking a little excited. "We're already in deep with them. If we're going to fight on their side, they might as well know everything."

Harry slowly raised one finger and pointed it at her. "I like you. A lot. You've just got yourself a lot of points in my book. What is 'everything'?"

The blonde grinned. "My full name, had I not been disavowed by the man, would have been Ayla Hydra Malfoy." Ayla told the two. "I can see you're surprised. But before you react, let me tell you that I'm not a pure blood. I'm a half blood, by a muggle woman."

"When Narcissa was pregnant with Draco Malfoy, she refused to have sex with her husband. She thought that it might damage the baby." Lenore explained reluctantly. "So Lucius brainwashed some muggle woman to entertain him until she got pregnant."

"Luckily for me," Ayla said dryly, as though she didn't really think it was that lucky, "Lucius didn't want to risk laying a hand on his progeny – even one by a muggle woman. So he let my mother go and gave her a stipend on which to raise me, under her maiden name of course. He ensured I would get good education, 'so I may not disgrace him'." Her eyes narrowed. "You can trust this, Harry Potter – I hate Draco and Lucius as much as you do. If not more."

"Huh." Harry said, frowning. "You know, that sounds like something Lucius might do. He thinks that being a Malfoy means he can do whatever he feels he can."

"Indeed." Ayla said darkly.

Lenore coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "Of course. The man who called himself 'Flight from Death' claimed to be the Heir of Slytherin. If you defeated him, then you've won the Slytherin house from him."

"There's some irony for you," Harry muttered. "The Golden Gryffindor is the Heir to Slytherin after all."

"I didn't realize Slytherin still had wealth." Guinevere commented.

"They don't – not really." Lenore said. "Slytherin's real hold on power, was his political might. Since Salazar, Rowena, Godric and Helga built the Ministry together after the Dark Ages, his descendants originally had at least a fourth of the Ministry under their control. Even after the family broke into multiple different houses, Slytherin still has massive power and claim among them. How else would people like Dolores Umbridge in the Ministry?"

"Son of a _bitch_!" Guinevere spat.

Lenore nodded. "She was in Slytherin when she was at school. Thanks to Flight-from-death's corruption of that house, there have been more people like _her_ ending up in the Ministry – not because they deserve it, but because they're welcomed there for being associated with the House."

"So, if I were to take control of that house, I could kick her out?" Harry asked hopefully.

Lenore gave him a calculated look. "Yes, but you would have to revive the house, and prepare heirs to it in order to bring back its power in the public eye. To take on the name, you would need a wife and a matriarch for that house."

"Wha?!"

"But before we get into that black hole of a subject, let's talk about the Gaunts." Lenore said. "The Gaunts, I believe, were a branch family of Slytherin. The line ended after Merope Gaunt's death. She had fallen in love with a muggle named with Thomas Riddle."

Harry jerked in his seat. Guinevere gave him a quick sideways look. Lenore blinked. "Later," Harry said. "it's a conversation for later."

"Alright...well, they're a Slytherin branch family. Most of their wealth was squandered, but their sealed vaults supposedly have many secrets of Dark Magic. I would only go in there with extreme discretion." Lenore warned them.

"Right." Harry twitched his fingers between the Peverell, Potter and Black rings. "Now...one last thing for today..." He took out the two marriage contracts that his mother had left for him and placed them on the table.

Lenore looked between them and clicked her tongue. "Your mother had a good understanding about how our world worked. Then again, Lily was pretty smart in almost everything she touched. She was a good woman. I knew her in passing at Hogwarts."

"But...it's more than one marriage." Harry said uncertainly.

"And you have more than one House who's future relies on you." Lenore responded simply. "To ensure their continuation, they need children bearing the house's name – preferably, more than one child for each house. One wife couldn't possibly provide that, and to revive the house at all, it would need a Martiarch. She would have influence over the house whenever you are busy or distracted, or handling other affairs."

"That's...oddly balanced, considering it's sealed by contract." Harry commented, blinking.

"Now, one of these mentions the Davis family." Harry looked up at the page. "Alys Davis's husband is dead. She's a good person. I recommend you speak to her about this contract, and about her daughter Tracey."

"Wha-but, I can't just show up on her doorstep and say, 'hi! I'm here to marry your daughter!'" Harry protested.

Lenore chuckled. "Yeah, I wouldn't phrase it like that, but Alys will understand the potential power you are wielding. Ayla will show you how to get there. I recommend you give it a chance. Between Tracey and Ayla, they can tutor you on our world's downfalls."

"It's a good idea, Harry." Guinevere whispered. "We're being pulled into this no matter what."

"...Right. I'll go meet her then. Thank you for your time, Miss Hydra."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Whew! That's a lot of paperwork. I hope you guys aren't bothered by that, I just wanted this to flow in a natural way rather than immeidately handing Harry and Ginny all the keys they need.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: This has certainly been interesting. Balancing the emotional nuances in a polygamist family is going to be a fascinating balance. That and I feel like I need to write more romantic scenes, because I get warm fuzzy feelings when I wrote the scenes between Harry, Tracey and Luna. Mixing that with Politics should be pretty fun. Keeping them balanced should be entertaining.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!**_

 **Chapter 3: Potter and Peverell**

Alys Davis nee Amsterdam had been raised in a modest pure blood environment, raised by her tough, opportunistic grandmother to make a better place for herself in the world. "There is only one way to rise in a society like this one," her grandmother had always said. "Take advantage of its laws, climb its ladders, and then burn them down when you reach the top." There wasn't much room for personal desire in there, especially for a talented young woman – keeping a 'noble' husband happy often required submitting to their whims, whatever they may be. Her grandmother had allowed her to pursue her artistic desires, but once her marriage to Kaius Davis had been arranged, she hadn't been allowed to play the piano or sing for the public.

"Those treasures are now mine and mine alone," Kaius had told her after their wedding night, when she asked about singing for a charity ball. "You sing and play only for me."

Yes, most pure blood marriages ended up like that. Alys's initial hope that her husband may be someone she could grow to like, or even love, and virtually dissolved after that. The following years had not made Kaius any better, even after the birth of their daughter, Tracey. Kaius had always been angry that she couldn't give him any other children. He had wanted a son!

Alys, however, knew that the fault for _that_ was not her own. Her reproductive abilities were perfectly healthy; with a good husband, she could have had as many children as she wished. However, Kaius's 'pure blood' had given him near impotency. Not that he would have ever acknowledged that fact.

It was thanks to her modest, if pragmatic and secretive, upbringing, that Alys ended up forging a mild friendship with James and Lily Potter. She had met Lily in school, and she liked the other girl's boldness and courage. Lily, meanwhile, had wept when she heard of what Alys had to do to go forward in this world, which she accepted as a means to an end, for a potentially happy ending. For a while, Lily had been Alys's only true friend – the other heiresses could hardly be described that way, except for Aileen Parkinson.

Oh, Aileen.

There was a tragedy. Aileen had fallen in love with a muggleborn, and suffered an honour killing for it. Her own father and brother, Owen, had delivered the killing blow.

Alys remembered being one of the few people at her funeral. She remembered Tracey vainly trying to console Pansy, her only friend at the time, as the young girl begged them not to bury her aunt, who had been more of a mother to her than anyone.

After that death, Pansy had never been the same. The girl who had once been so sweet and kind had constructed a cold and cruel facade to shield herself from further suffering. And since she could not turn her anguished rage against those responsible, she had turned it on the other faction that was, supposedly, to blame for loosing Aileen – the muggleborns.

 _What a loss,_ Alys always felt a great sense of sadness whenever she thought of Pansy Parkinson. _She'll be forced to carry that grief, loss and anger forever. She knows why Aileen died but she is not allowed to accept it. Those feelings will devour her until there's nothing left of that kindhearted cat lover that my darling Tracey loved spending time with._

Alys had done her best to help the young girl. Of course, it wouldn't be enough, since Pansy had to go back to her father. It had always enraged Lily and James that they weren't able to get proper justice for people like Aileen and her niece, since the Blood War had given protection to some of the worst of their kind.

The Blood War. Even when she was at her most controlled, it made Alys furious to even think about it and what it had taken from her, from everyone. The loss of her friends, the shadow it cast over her daughter. That had been their conflict, damn it, and now Tracey could suffer for it with Voldemort having returned to the world thanks to the Ministry's incompetence.

At least now she was shot of Kaius. If one good thing had come out of the Battle at the Ministry, it was his death. Hit by a wayward killing curse from that lunatic Lestrange. Irony at its finest.

That made Alys's mind drift to the contract she and Lily had drawn up a month before the lady had gone into hiding. A promise and a possibility, a hope, that their children would be able to build a better world. Her training from her grandmother would be vindicated.

Tracey would become Lady Potter, scion to the quietly powerful house who had always despised all those worse aspects of pure blood culture.

Of course, the Great Albus Dumbledore just _couldn't_ keep himself from interfering, could he?

That was why Harry didn't know anything about his family's business, which Alys was willing to bet was were most of the Order's funds were coming from since their reawakening. That was why he didn't know about the contract. That was why he was blinded to the pitfalls of their world, stumbling through it without the power that was rightfully his, that could have brought about true, honest change. Because Dumbledore didn't want great change, he wanted to 'protect their world'.

It probably had something to do with Grindelwald. Alys's grandmother had been one of the few to know any details about that particular friendship before Grindelwald's rise to power. The man had wanted to make big changes. So now Dumbledore believed that any big changes – any at all, even for the better – shouldn't be made.

Hmph. It always came back to Dumbledore. The man's ego must be massive, for him to have made himself the centre of their world but still insist that he was 'just a humble headmaster' when that was _clearly_ bullshit. What was the point of being the head in their world if you weren't willing to do anything with that power?

Alys was sitting at her piano in the evening, playing her daughter's favourite song. Tracey always asked for her to play whenever she had trouble going to sleep. It was plain to see, despite attempts to hide it, that Tracey was afraid of what the next year might bring. It was probably for the best that Kaius hadn't been very interested in raising a daughter, seeing her mainly as a future contract to write – most likely to the Malfoy family, those pompus peacocks.

That meant that Alys could raise her daughter as a person, not just an heiress. Wonderful things happened to children when they didn't think of themselves as pawns or tools.

Tracey had fallen asleep on the couch about three quarters of the way through the song. Alys softly asked the family house elf to take her back up to her room, which the young female elf hastened to do. Just as she was winding down on the last few notes, an owl flew in with a letter for her.

"Oh?" Alys murmured, taking the muggle-looking parchment from the tired animal. Who was writing mail to her now? She didn't have many friends among her social circle – most of them weren't worth befriending. But when she turned the note over, her eyebrows shot up.

It was signed to her, from Lord Harry Potter. The Potter seal – she remembered it from her time with Lily and James – had closed the envelope. Immediately Alys's mind raced over at least six different possibilities for what that meant, before quickly casting a spell to see if the letter was forged or enspelled.

When it came up clean, she cracked the letter open and began quickly reading it's contents. When she reached the end, both the owl and her loyal house elf jumped when Alys burst out laughing, much in the same way Ayla Hydra/Malfoy had the previous day.

Dumbledore had _finally_ made a mistake.

Once she had gotten a hold of her emotions, Alys hastened to write a response, offering to set up a meeting where they could speak more about what the young man had discovered. She would tell Tracey about this in the morning before he arrived. This was the chance she had been waiting for ever since her grandmother had drilled the family principle into her head.

" _Take advantage of the law, climb the system, and burn the ladder from the top."_

 **~Line Break~**

"A marriage contract...to _Harry Potter_?!"

Tracey stared at her mother, her breakfast all but forgotten in her surprise. This was a new precedent for her. To do this would be to set themselves in opposition against Malfoy and Voldemort!

"Yes." Alys said simply. "What's wrong, my love? You described mister Potter as a 'kind, if rather dense, young man, and it's a pity he wasn't sorted into Slytherin because you would have liked to know him better'. Am I erring in my memory?"

"Wha...no, I did!" Tracey admitted, twisting a strand of her golden red hair between her fingers. She always did that when she was nervous. "I...just...why now? What brought this on? I thought we were keeping our heads low!"

"Keep our heads low forever, and nothing changes," Alys gently admonished her daughter. "Tracey, if we were to live under Voldemort's rule, how long would we last? The man only respects his own greed and lust for power, and those who serve him are little better."

"No mother, I know that, it's just – this is such a risk!"

"Of course, there is always a risk when you stand up and declare for the right." Alys acknowledged. "But Mr Potter is not Dumbledore, and therefore there is a good chance we will not loose more than we can afford by throwing our lot in with him."

"How could he _possibly_ be much better than Dumbledore?!" Tracey asked, thoroughly confused. "He's the Gryffindor Golden Boy! I thought-"

Alys raised a hand to silence her, a gentle smile on her face. "Tracey. Does the name Guinevere Potter mean anything to you?"

"Wha...? No. I...was she one of Potter's ancestors?" Tracey asked in confusion.

"No," Alys responded. "She is Harry Potter's younger sister. Dumbledore separated them at birth and forcibly adopted her onto another family. He kept them apart so his agenda wouldn't be affected by her existence."

"I..." Tracey was stunned. "He really...? How could he?! It's one thing to interfere with an heir, but taking away the only family that Harry had after loosing his parents?! That's...that's just vile!"

Alys nodded. "Tell me, Tracey, if you were in Lord Potter's shoes and you discovered this, would you remain loyal to the man responsible for such a crime?"

"No! I'd declare a blood fued between our families, and summon all the laws and judgments our law has to offer to throw his miserable, manipulative ass in Azkaban!" Tracey exclaimed heatedly, slamming her fist on the table.

"Then you have your answer, don't you?" Alys asked. Tracey paused for a second, thinking, before slowly nodding in agreement. "With how Lord Potter's life has gone on, and the things that he has achieved even without knowing the place he could have in the world, he could very well gain more power than even Albus Dumbledore. And beyond that, with the way you have described him to me, I believe he may be a good and gentle husband to you."

"Well..." Tracey thought back to a time when she had seen Harry Potter joking and laughing with some of his friends in the courtyard. She had been seized with a great feeling of jealousy. Having lost her friendship with Pansy, she would have given anything to experience the happiness and camaraderie Harry was enjoying. "I guess so..."

"He and his sister are going to meet us this afternoon to discuss the contract that I filed with Lily Potter many years ago," Alys said. "You'll get to meet him properly, without having to maintain any artificial facades. Be there, and speak with them. We don't have much to loose."

"Alright, mother." Tracey said, nodding. "I'll go change into something a bit more classy."

"I don't think that's necessary, but if you want to, go ahead."

"I was in Slytherin, wasn't I? I don't know what he thinks of me, because we only met in passing. I want to make a good first-or-second impression," Tracey said, before pushing her plate aside and hurrying upstairs, calling for Mei as she went.

Alys simply smiled and knocked back the rest of her tea. _Let us see indeed._

 **~Line Break~**

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Miss Davis." Harry said politely when Alys opened the door.

"It's no trouble, Lord Potter, Lady Potter." Alys said warmly. "You're welcome in my home. Please, come right in – my house elf has prepared tea for all of us."

"Thank you; that's very kind of you."

Harry and Guinevere both stepped into the stately Davis mansion with curiosity and slight caution, respectively. Harry had never really visited a place like this, while Guinevere was shaking off the ingrained animosity against Slytherins that her adoptive family had inducted to her thanks to the deaths of her uncles in the first war. After all, not all Slytherins were Death Eaters – she had seen as much when a number of them had joined the DA in their previous year.

Alys lead them into a living room, where several velvet chairs were waiting. There was a table with four china cups and a large beaker of tea sitting. Harry's eyes immediately came to a rest on Tracey Davis.

She was certainly a pretty girl, he acknowledged that straight away. Tracey was dressed in a pure white gown with gold trimming, lovely but not flaunting wealth. Her golden red hair fell down just past her shoulders in soft waves, a ruby clip holding her bangs away from her eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned, suggesting a foreign heritage on one side of the family. She was slender but not too skinny, not particularly athletic but not a porcelain doll. Her dark blue eyes opened wide with surprise when she saw Guinevere.

"Ginny Weasley?" She blurted out, setting her teacup down on the table. "You were-? Oh, I'm sorry." She flushed. "I didn't mean to speak out of turn."

Guinevere waved a hand. "It's alright, Tracey." She said kindly. "That was lower key than my own surprise when I discovered the truth." She sat down on a nearby chair and offered Tracey her hand. "It would probably be prudent to introduce myself again. I'm Guinevere Potter, in truth. It is nice to meet you."

Tracey smiled shyly and shook in return. "Tracey Davis." She said. "It's nice to meet you both."

"Thank you, miss." Harry said respectfully. Tracey felt herself blush a bit, which she quickly hid by taking another drink. Draco, Theodore, Goyle, Crabbe and those other twits never would have called her 'miss' even if they had been betrothed. They had no respect for anyone but themselves.

For a little while, the four drank tea and ate crackers in reasonably companionable silence, with Guinevere mildly breaking the ice with small talk about their work at school. The house elf Mei occasionally came in with new snacks, and Harry was pleased to see that she looked healthy and well treated.

 _You can tell much about a person with how they treat their underlings,_ Ayla Hydra had remarked, referring to the families he might make contracts with.

Eventually, the conversation did come to the contract.

Alys set the papers on the table. "You said you wanted to talk to us about this?" She asked politely. Tracey set her cup down and stared into Harry's eyes, waiting to see how he would react to this.

Harry's brow creased. "Well, yes and no." Guinevere nudged him slightly, and he quickly backtracked, "I mean no disrespect by that – I do want to discuss it, but I'm not here to simply sign it and leave. I was hoping I could talk about it, not just with you, but with your daughter."

"Oh?" Alys raised one eyebrow, but the glint in her eyes suggested she was more pleased than she was letting on.

Harry took a breath and explained, "In my life, I have had a lot of experience with being forced to do things, with no one asking me what I wanted. When my lawyer first encouraged me to look at the contracts, I initially didn't want to touch them. In the world I grew up in, cultural osmosis dictated that women who were bound by contract to marry always bitterly resented the removal of their freedom to choose, not just who they loved but how they lived their lives. Those who signed the contracts treated those ladies less as valued family members, but as tools to achieve political or personal ends."

Guinevere tilted her head slightly, indicating she very much agreed with the sentiment. "I have experience with not being able to choose," Harry continued. "And I greatly empathize with that anger it causes. So, when I arrived here, I was hoping that I could speak to Tracey about the contract and ask her what she thought of it, and what she might want."

Tracey sat up straighter, hope flickering through her eyes. "You did?"

Harry looked over at her. "Yes. I know...I have discovered multiple Houses under my control. My lawyer stated that each one needs a Martiarch for revival, so their powers will return and I can use them against Voldemort. But that...that seems cold, impersonal. It treats the women I marry as pawns to achieve an end, without a thought to their happiness. I refuse to treat another person like that, especially after what I've gone through."

Harry met Tracey's eyes gently, before finishing his little speech with a final flourish. "The thought of having more than one wife is a bit threatening, to be honest. I want any girl who becomes a part of my life to be secure and happy in it. I don't want to inflict what I've experienced on them. So, I was hoping to get Tracey's opinions on the matter before any contract was sealed."

Tracey sat absolutely still as she processed this. Had she been over eighteen, she would have cut her finger, signed the page immediately, and jumped on her husband-to-be to crush him in a hug.

"I think that was the right thing to say, big brother," Guinevere noted, her voice gently teasing. Tracey gave her a mortified look, but the understanding glow in the other Potter's eyes soothed her instantly.

"I...that sounds like a wonderful possibility, Harry." Tracey said, ignoring the fact that technically, she should be calling him 'Lord'. When he didn't react, Tracey knew that her mother was right and this was the chance she had always wanted. "I think I would be a fool to give up the chance to be with a kind and accommodating husband."

Harry blushed. "I would do my best for you," he promised. "I know that, in order to gain the power necessary to change our world, I would need more than one wife. I don't want you to feel threatened by that. I'll give you whatever I can to make you happy."

"That's good to hear," Alys said softly. "The Davis household has a vote and a seat in the Wizamgot, which I'm currently holding by proxy since Kaius left us without a son." _Not that I think that is a tragedy,_ she added silently. _He left Tracey in my care to raise, but I shudder to think how a son might have turned out under his tutelage. Undoubtedly he'd be much like the Malfoy spawn._ "I imagine it would come with great use for you."

"I don't have much political training," Tracey admitted. "But I suppose that's less important, since Guinevere has the Lady Potter seat in the Ministry."

"You can learn," Guinevere said encouragingly. "We would be equal partners in the household, I can promise you that. I heard from school that you're very good in the arts programs, and with finances."

Tracey flushed slightly at the compliment. This scene was taking her back to when she had been friends with Pansy, at six years old. A simpler, happier time. She had forgotten how much she dearly missed it. "That's kind of you Guinevere. I was a diligent student."

"You can call me Gwen," Guinevere said with a smile. "Alys, if you would wish it, Harry and I will extend our House Protection to you, now that your husband has left and this contact is going to be signed."

Alys resisted the urge to laugh. Kaius had said she would be nothing without him whenever she displeased him, that she would have to whore herself out to keep a decent living. Oh, how wrong he was! "I would like that. You are most generous, Lord and Lady Potter."

Tracey handed Harry the quill to sign the contract. He encouraged her to leave her own name in the consent, with her mother and Guinevere as witnesses. Tracey recognized this as his offer of power over her own life, and she accepted it gladly. A matching ruby ring, similar to Guinevere's, was given to her directly afterwards.

"There's one more thing I need to handle today," Harry told the pair. "And I need to get a proper house worthy of the women who will be entering my life. Please, pack at your own pace, and I wouldn't ask you to leave until you're prepared."

"Of course. Thank you, Harry." Tracey paused, glanced at her mother, and carefully asked, "If it is not to bold of me, who are your other contracts signed to?"

Harry, unlike Draco who would have blown up at his fiance for daring to 'pry into the Lordship's affairs', answered straight away, "To be honest my mother only prepared one other, because she did not foresee me winning two houses by Conquest or being adopted into the Blacks. Do you know Luna Lovegood?"

"Oh yes," Tracey said immediately. "She knows more about ancient magics than probably anyone else at school, barring maybe my friend Daphne Greengrass. The class system wouldn't let us speak much, but I greatly enjoyed speaking about Ancient Runes with her."

Harry smiled, his expression both pleased and slightly grim. "As of right now, she is the only other one potentially promised to me by contract. I was hoping that you and her might assist me in finding others who would be prepared to change this system. Dumbledore has made it nearly impossible for me to trust those I once had absolute faith in, and knowing what I know now I cannot trust him not to try and regain power over me through anyone I might choose."

Alys didn't look surprised. Tracey clenched her fists slightly, remembering what Dumbledore had done to the two kind people in front of her. "I would be happy to help," she said, her mind going back to her current friend...and the older one that she still wanted to save. "In fact, I think there are at least two people I could speak to. I'll tell you more once you've settled the Lovegood contract."

Harry shook her hand, and with a slight nudge from his sister, lightly kissed Tracey's fingers. "Thank you. I'm glad to have you and your mother on my side." Tracey felt herself blush, but this time she had no inclination to hide it. There was no threat of mockery here.

 **~At the Rookery~**

"Hello, Harry. It took you a while to get back to me."

"I'm really sorry about that, Luna. I just thought the ground with Tracey might be a bit rougher, considering she was in Slytherin. However, it hadn't tainted her judgment, and her mother is a smart lady."

Guinevere was still inside the house, speaking with Xenophilius Lovegood who was eagerly ranting about his newest discovery to her. It was novety for him to be taken seriously by anyone, and the curious little redhead who had befriended his only daughter had always been kind to him on that front. He said he'd agree to whatever Luna wanted, so she and Harry went for a walk in the woods behind the house to speak of their potential future.

"No, it's okay." Luna said. "You seem a little different now, Harry. More calm, more in control. I can see it in your eyes." She turned towards him, slowly walking backwards as she spoke. "Personally, I think it brings out their best quality. Pools of emerald water."

"Ah! I'm flattered," Harry said with a slight blush. "I hadn't really noticed. I suppose part of me has already buckled down for the storm I'm brewing up."

"I heard muggles say that the best way to stop a fire is to start a counter fire," Luna recalled.

She and Guinevere had visited a muggle village as children once. It had been a fun experience, even if a worried Molly had cut the expedition off prematurely.

"So I've heard." Harry agreed, one hand going to his arm. "I just hope I don't burn any innocents along the way."

"You'll do the best you can to do right by them," Luna said simply. "That's the most anyone can do. And I think you'll do wonderfully, there. You've already done it once, with the DA. Those people can fight and defend themselves now. They're much safer than they would be otherwise."

"Thank you, Luna." Harry said, pausing his walking. "But I can't help being afraid of what I might be starting. The upheaval I cause if I manage to take over the Ministry won't discriminate in who it hurts."

Luna smiled gently. She reached out and touched his face, gently tilting Harry's head upwards until she was looking him in the eye. "You're a good, kind man, Harry. I hope that good side doesn't paralyze you. There's always a chance for things going wrong. But evil will flourish if good men like you decide to do nothing."

Harry's heart was soothed slightly at this. "You're pretty smart, Luna," He said softly. "It's a shame that no one else can see this side of you."

"Some people see only what they want to see," Luna responded with a slight shrug. "When you see only with your own eyes, you're easy to fool. That's why Draco acts the way he does, and it's what blinds Hermione to possibilities. They can't see them."

"You're right." Harry said, remembering with some heat how Hermione had started the DA, then immediately tried to back down on the idea the moment Sirius said he liked the sound of it. Hermione could be smart, but she wasn't quite as wise. "I hope my eyes are open."

Luna suddenly stepped forward and embraced Harry tightly, causing the young boy to start. "Your eyes were always open. You saw me for who I really was right away. Everyone except Gwen called me 'Looney' and thought I was crazy, but you never did." Tears welled up in Luna's blue eyes. "You've always been so good to me. Aside from Gwen, you're my only friend."

"Luna..." Harry whispered. He'd never seen Luna like this. She had always taken her sadness in stride, keeping it from the world.

"I wanted you to be more for a while now, but I was too afraid to ask." Luna confessed, her fingers digging into his shoulders. "I thought, if you rejected me, I'd loose that wonderful friendship too. I couldn't bear that!"

"Shh, shh..." Harry said soothingly, taking a moment to gently rub Luna's back. "I'll never turn you away, Luna. Even if I never developed romantic feelings for you – if that had somehow been sterilized out of me – I'd still value your friendship a lot."

Carefully untangling her from him so he could look her in the eye, Harry quickly added, "I've always liked the things about you that everyone else insists on calling 'strange'. I love your sense of wonder and your respect for the world itself. I love how you've always seen me as a person, seen past everything that was built up around me and becoming friends with the person underneath. _Thank you_ for that. I'm so, incredibly grateful for it."

Luna blinked her tears away, a smile building up on her face again. "Oh. I'm glad I was there, then."

"And so am I." Harry said, returning her smile in a reassuring way. "I'm afraid, thanks to my upbringing, I don't know a lot about love. But I really have treasured the time we've spent together, and I think that can easily turn into love, if we go about it the right way. And I know...with this path in front of me, I can't go down it alone."

"Gwen's there for me, and I'm grateful for that, but that's one kind of love, and I don't want to stress her out too much." Following an instinct inside of him, Harry reached out and brushed free strands of hair away from Luna's face. "You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but I'd be grateful and very happy to have you as a part of my life."

"...I'd love to be a part of your life." Luna said softly. "Luna Peverell. I think that sounds kind of nice." She smiled brilliantly. "Yes. I like that." After a pause, she jumped forward and kissed the surprised boy on the lips.

Harry stood frozen for a moment, but then he gently wrapped his arms around Luna's shoulders and pulled her closer, deepening their first kiss together.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **What do you think? I actually felt a little touched when I wrote the scene between Luna and Harry. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Don't worry, Tracey and the other girls will have their own moments later on.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: Thank you all for your lovely responses to this story! I've had a lot of inspiration, so we're trucking along quite nicely. Focusing on one story while spreading out the updates for the others helps my head, I think. That's why the chapters have been chugging out fast for this one. Alliances are fun to write about!  
**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

 **Chapter 4: Black and Slytherin**

Guinevere stood tall on the diving board, bending her knees before leaping down and vanishing below the surface of the cool water of an apartment pool. After a few seconds, she broke the surface, throwing her hair back and laughing. "I love pools, Harry!"

Her brother chuckled. Harry was sitting nearby, several open documents stacked in various, slightly precarious looking stacks. He was dressed in a semi formal black shirt and dark jeans, pen scratching across the table. "I'm glad you're enjoying it, Gwen."

"Can I have a pool noodle again?" Guinevere pleaded. Harry leaned over and picked up a pink flotation from the side of the table and tossed it towards her. Gleefully the redhead grabbed it and started kicking forwards, heading back towards the shallow end.

It was late in the evening, and Harry was still working. He had found himself an upscale apartment to stay in where he could work in peace and quiet, a temporary place for now, but spacious enough for his current needs. Now that the contracts with Tracey and Luna were signed, he was dealing with the paperwork regarding the Davis and Potter Ministry seats. Mostly the trouble was keeping the identity of the 'proxies' under wraps until the next important meeting; which would take place right after Sirius's Will was read.

Normally, wills were kept relatively private, with only those mentioned inside being welcome. They also usually took place in Gringotts. However, the sheer scale of the Black family's assets and political history, it was being brought into the Ministry.

Harry was tempted to put that down to Draco Malfoy, who would be there, having been brought in by his mother Narcissa. The pompous shite believed he was going to be the next Lord Black, since he was the closest pure blood in relation to the last living Black, even though Sirius hated his family history and everyone knew that.

"What did you tell your aunt and uncle about moving out of the house?" Ayla Hydra asked, placing her arms on the side of the pool; her flipper clad feet churning slightly. The low light made her silver hair sparkle slightly.

"I told them the truth," Harry said with a shrug. "That I'm emancipated, and I'll be living on my own. They didn't need to know anything else."

"You aren't worried that they'd tell on you?" Ayla asked, tilting her head slightly.

"No." Harry said, his lips twitching upwards. "Those two hate magic so much they couldn't wait to be rid of me. Dudley wouldn't give me away, and he's already spending most of his time out of the house too. Arabella Figg thinks that I'm joining up with Abigail Crest's biker group; she said it sounded like a 'nice distraction'." He chuckled darkly. "Besides, a few galleons convinced Vernon to keep up the facade."

"Mm. Muggles sure love their gold, don't they?" Guinevere remarked as she floated on her back, kicking lightly. "I didn't think they'd spend so much for just a few galleons."

"A rich wizard could mess up the world economy if they knew what they were doing," Harry commented. "Inflating the market and raking in billions."

"That's not going to be you, is it?" Guinevere asked softly.

"Hah! I wouldn't know what to do with billions." Harry responded with a chuckle. "All I ever really wanted was a family. All the money in the world can't buy that." He shook his head. "I wish Ron had understood that, back in fourth year."

Ayla rolled her eyes. "Ron's struggles have given him the idea that he's suffered more than anyone else he knows."

Guinevere sighed, turning over and wrapping herself around the pink pool noodle again. "What am I going to do about that?" She asked, half to herself. "Even weeks after discovering the truth, I can't bring myself to confront them."

Harry glanced up from his papers and looked over at her. "I'll be there to support you. No matter what happens." He promised.

"I know. Thank you, Harry." Guinevere murmured. "There's really no getting around it, is there..."

"Not really." Ayla said, her tone matter of fact but not completely devoid of sympathy. "The moment Harry shows up with his titles, everyone's gonna know. Just remember that you always had the right to the truth."

Guinevere turned over and looked at Ayla. "When did you find out? I mean, that Lucius Malfoy was your father?"

"I was twelve." Ayla recalled. "Mom hadn't really understood what had been done to her. She felt a lot of shame and confusion about it until she eventually told aunt Lenore about it. Auntie looked it up and then told me."

"That must have been kind of scary." Guinevere said.

"A little." Ayla said with a shrug. "I had always figured my dad was some sort of jackass who dumped mum the moment she got pregnant. I just didn't know how right I was. Mostly, I got mad." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I wonder how many other muggles like mum had this happen to them."

Harry signed the last paper about the Ministry seat and sat back against the chair. "Whew. I can't help but wonder if I'm cut out for all this."

Ayla chuckled and pulled herself out of the pool. Grabbing one of the fluffy white towels off the rack and wrapping it around her shoulders, she walked over to Harry's side and sat down on the spare chair. She was tall, slender and well muscled, wearing a blue one piece swimsuit. "You'll learn." She said. "Everyone entering jobs like this has to."

Harry chuckled nervously. "Thanks. It'll take all my concentration...not sure I can commit all my brain with you sitting next to me like that."

Ayla clicked her tongue and smiled coyly at him. "I'm flattered. Did Tracey contact you about possible, trustworthy women to head your other houses?"

"She said two, but told me to discuss contract with one first." Harry said. "Apparently the other one would take some convincing." He pulled out Tracey's letter and placed it on the table.

"Daphne Greengrass?" Ayla guessed. In the background, Guinevere took another dive. She had taken a real liking to the pool. "Hm; I can see that. Daphne was fairly friendly towards me, considering I was a half blood and a Ravenclaw. Her family has been Neutral for nearly twelve generations now."

"That's a long time." Harry said. "Tell me what she's like, would you?"

"She's calculated, smart." Ayla responded, looking thoughtful. "She has a carefully maintained facade of indifference towards the world. In Slytherin, they call her the Ice Queen. I've only seen under that mask twice, and those times her little sister Astoria was with us. It's in my mind that if Daphne entered the military, she would easily hit a high rank with charisma and smarts alone."

"Her personality? How much of the 'Ice Queen' is a facade?" Guinevere asked, now floating on her back again.

"Hm. I think part of it is out of necessity, but don't misunderstand me – Daphne isn't the sort to suffer fools quietly." Ayla remarked. "Her scorn has left teachers speechless. You should have seen her after the Toad Woman used some sort of blood quill on her little sister for sticking up for you, Harry."

The Boy Who Lived put down his pen in surprise. "I didn't know about that."

"The Slytherins kept it hush hush. They didn't want to be seen associating with you at the best of times, since so many of them are tangled in that generation old alliance to Riddle. The Toad Woman's reign was almost as far from 'the best of times' we could have gotten, short of Riddle himself." Ayla explained.

"So what happened?" Guinevere asked, genuinely curious.

"Daphne took her sister straight into the teacher's lounge, just after lunch." Ayla smirked. "Then she proceeded to call the Toad Woman an incompetent hack, threatened to sue the shit out of her for hurting Astoria, and that she'd ask her father to revoke his financial support to the Ministry entirely. Daphne swore that if Toad Woman even looked at Astoria funny again, her only source of income would be collecting bottles from the street."

Guinever whistled.

"When Dumbledore tried to get her to calm down, she called him an imbecile for failing to notice this going on right under his nose. Oh yes, it was quite the scene."

Harry found himself chuckling. "I wish I could have seen that."

"I think Daphne would be a good choice for House Black." Ayla said. "Her father has some connections to the Daily Prophet, and those two families have a history of good will between them. Considering how much that rag was a throne in your side last year, taking some control over it would probably be wise."

"And we could put the truth about Riddle's family in the papers," Guinevere chimed in. "If anything would shake up his forces, it would be that."

Harry nodded slightly, his expression creased with thought. "Right. I'll ask Tracey to speak with her, and then arrange a three way meeting for us. Maybe four way, if your aunt isn't too busy handling our other paperwork."

Lenore had been investigating the Potter business for the last three days. She had indeed found some discrepancies, and was filing the resulting paperwork over to the Goblins. Considering that goblins considered thievery a capital crime, comparable to murder, that probably wasn't going to end well for anyone who had stolen from him and his sister.

"I'll ask her about it. If she can't, I'll go instead." Ayla said.

Harry tilted his head and looked seriously at her. "If I can ask, what's prompting you to choose my side? We haven't known each other before this."

"I like what your future may have to offer me." Ayla responded. "I think you're the kind of person who would get my mother justice. And you're the only one who's ever brought about Riddle's defeat. I like my chances here. And let's be honest – your stubborn, bullheaded goodness is sort of endearing in its absurdity."

"Hah! I'll take that as a compliment."

 _ ****~Two Days Later~****_

"What are you telling Molly to get out of the house this often?" Harry asked his sister curiously as they walked down the street toward the entrance to Diagon Alley. Molly was the overprotective sort and it surprised him that she was managing to sneak away.

"I told her I've been spending time with Luna. We've spent days, even weeks together ever since we were little, so Mum-Molly-doesn't think anything of it yet." Guinevere responded with a slight shrug. "It's not entirely untrue."

Harry nodded in agreement. Luna had come to visit the apartment just yesterday, to spend some time with her fiance. Harry had introduced her to Dudley and taken her for a tour around the neighbourhood to show her muggle sights. While her response had been more low key than Gwen's, Luna had been pretty impressed by what she had seen.

"So muggles really can build buildings of glass that reach the sky," She remarked. "I thought only wizards had ever done that; back in the days of Mu and Atlantis."

Harry had meant to ask her more about that, but Luna had quickly gotten distracted by an Ice Cream Parlour. That in turn had reminded him about something Ayla had said – books in the Black library that would tell him more about Lordship. _I should probably get around to reading those,_ he thought ruefully. _If I manage to secure a future with Daphne and her family, that will be the next item on my list of things to do..._

Spending this time with them helped him ignore the communication blackout he was experiencing from Ron and Hermione. Internally, he knew he should have expected it, but it still kind of hurt to think about.

"Have you ever talked to Daphne, Gwen?" Harry asked her curiously.

"No. But I have talked to her little sister Astoria before. She was in the DA last year, remember? Blonde haired girl, bubbly and excited, a year younger than me?"

Harry thought for a minute before the image jumped into his head. "Yeah. She always wore star shaped ruby earrings, right?"

"Yeah. Well, Astoria's kind of a treasure. She's super sweet and innocent. It's no wonder Daphne dotes on her, and threatens murder on anyone who crosses her." Guinevere chuckled. "It was my first big indication that, Ice Queen persona aside, Daphne could be a good person. You can see that Astoria means the world to her."

"I understand that." Harry remarked, squeezing her wrist a bit. Guinevere smiled and him and rested her head on his shoulder for a second before straightening up.

"Initially Daphne hadn't been too happy about Astoria joining the DA," Guinevere recalled. "But after a few lessons, she actually joined in. I think we must have gotten some pretty good PR from the sounds of that! They were the only Slytherins in that group."

"That much I remember," Harry agreed, before sighing. "I wonder if there were more Slytherins who would have liked to join, but were too intimidated, or didn't think they'd be allowed to thanks to my rivalry with Malfoy."

Guinevere elbowed him lightly. "Ow," He said in jest, glancing towards her.

"Don't go sinking into depressing 'what could I have done differently' again, Potter," Guinevere said with equal parts mirth and seriousness. "You did everything in your power under the information that you had, you did an amazing job, and you still have time to turn things around."

Harry threw up his hands defensively, though he laughed along the way. "As you command, milady!"

Both siblings chuckled before turning down the alleyway that lead to the wizard world. Even all these years later, Harry was still impressed that the wall could slide away while normal humans went on their way, oblivious to it.

"I'm surprised that the Knight Bus has a station." Harry commented. "I figured it was privately owned, since the driver didn't change until Stunspike got arrested."

"No, it's public. They're just kind of cheap; that's why there were so few drivers." Guinevere said. "It's not like the wizard world as a licence system like the mundanes."

"That doesn't bode well...the mundanes have a licence system for a reason."

The letter from both Tracey and Daphne had given them the address to the Greengrass estate, so it was just a matter of getting there. They were both wearing semi formal outfits, though it had taken a bit of convincing to get Guinevere to wear a wizard style one for the meeting – she had grown quite attached to the variety offered by muggle clothing stores.

 _I better not take her to Victoria's Secret,_ Harry thought balefully. _That might just be the end of my sanity. Or maybe she, Luna and Tracey could go together with Ayla acting as a guide._ There might be something to that.

One rickety bus ride later, they arrived at another stately mansion. It looked more lively than the Davis household, though perhaps that was merely because there were more people inhabiting it. Harry walked up to the door and knocked three times before waiting.

It was opened by Astoria Greengrass, who's eyes lit up the moment she saw the twosome. Though she had tried to hide it under her father's instructions, Astoria had always had a bit of hero worship towards Harry Potter, having seen his bravery, tenacity and quick thinking during the Tri Wizard Tournament. "Hello!" She said brightly, before turning around and yelling, "MUM! DAD! DAPH! TRACEY! THEY'RE HERE!"

"Astoria Lynn Greengrass! What have I told you about shrieking like that in doors?" A slightly short but well dressed gentleman appeared from around the corner, looking stern but rather affectionate. "Don't mind her, please – she has always been a wild one."

"No offence taken, sir. You must be Daniel Greengrass?" Harry asked, offering his hand.

"Yes. I know who you are, Harry Potter." Daniel shook before his eyes flicked over to Guinevere. "And this young lady must be your sister. Allow me to state how pleased I am that the two of you were able to reuinte."

"Thank you. No one was more happy than myself." Harry said lightly.

"Come on in. We have much to discuss."

 **~Line Break~**

Tracey shyly waved her ring hand at Harry when he sat down across from her. She was sitting with her somewhat secret best friend, Daphne Greengrass. Harry noted that Ayla's description was spot on. Daphne had a very serious and measured expression; her honey blonde hair was tied back in a single braid that reached down to the small of her back. Her stark, ice blue eyes seemed to gaze straight through him. She was wearing a green dress with blue trim and a sapphire necklace.

Alys had gone ahead and explained to Daniel and Angela Greengrass what the siblings had told her when they approached about the contract the previous week. Daniel's eyebrows kept migrating northward the whole explanation until they vanished beneath his bangs, while Angela teetered closer and closer to erupting out of outrage.

The Greengrass policy about family was that there was nothing more important than it, except God. Not money, not politics, not power. For Dumbledore to meddle in Harry's family, and secretly set him up to marry his sister, was an unacceptable travesty in Angela's eyes.

"That is...quite the story." Daniel remarked.

"Sums up my life in a nutshell, sir." Harry remarked with a nervous smile. Astoria burst into a fit of giggles. Daphne raised an eyebrow at her sister before turning back to him.

"Potter...no, Harry. Listen. I've been raised in pure blood society, so I know all the implications of a contract. You don't have to haggle with me on the department. There are other things that I want to ask you about, that I am more interested in."

"Oh?" Harry asked, surprised. He hadn't expected this, though he hoped that it wasn't showing too much. Ayla had coached him on maintaining a relatively stoic demeanour when doing business with Lords with status like the Greengrasses.

"The first thing I want to know is, what kind of power would you allow me to have? Politically." Daphne elaborated. Daniel gave his daughter a worried look, but she plowed on regardless. "Women of my standing generally aren't expected to have jobs; and even those who do allow it would never accept what I have in mind."

"What do you want that wouldn't be allowed, Daphne?" Harry asked.

Daphne's eyes flashed. "I want to be a Lady Knight." She stated.

Daniel sucked in a breath. "Daphne..."

"We talked about this, father." Daphne said without blinking. "If we've guessed right about him, it bears asking."

"I'm not sure I understand," Harry admitted.

"You have access to the Black library, correct?"

"Yes. I haven't had a chance to get in there unaccompanied yet, since my lawyer is still in the process of kicking out those who have been occupying it without my permission." Harry didn't mention that it was the Order of the Phoenix yet.

"There are several old books in there, one of which is titled _Atlantis Queen._ If you read it, you will have more context for what I am asking of you, but to summerize it, a Lady Knight is a political and military figure, usually only held by the martiarch of daughter of a Great House." Daphne said.

"Military?" Harry asked.

Daphne nodded. "My other prospects would never allow it. _It isn't womanly_ , Malfoy told me once." She bared her teeth in an unfriendly smile. "As if I had asked for his opinion on the matter."

"Malfoy tends to give his opinion whether or not it is wanted." Guinevere said dryly. "It's been my experience that he especially delights in giving it when it isn't wanted."

"That has been mine too," Daphne responded. She and Guinevere shared a cold smirk. "I imagine he'll be in for quite the rude shock when the Will is read at the end of August."

"Indeed he is," Guinevere responded.

"Plenty of time for you to read up on what history has been deliberately kept from you," Daphne added, her attention swinging back to Harry. "I'll ask you about this again when you have better context, Harry Black, but that is what this marriage would offer me. I find that prospect charming enough that I do not mind that, obviously, you will have other wives."

"I...can't pretend I'm not surprised, though perhaps I shouldn't be." Harry admitted. "Well, as Tracey could tell you, there's something I want to ask you before we sign anything – what do you want, that I might give you with this arrangement?"

Daphne smiled at him. It was a true smile, not her cold Ice Queen smirks, and seeing it Harry had a feeling they would, if not fall in love, at least get along quite well. "What I want may be rather daunting for a lesser man, Black." Her smile widened. " _ **I want to change the world.**_ "

Tracey grinned in agreement; Guinevere had a sense the two had discussed this before their arrival. Daniel looked slightly worried, but both Alys and Angela were both smiling as well. Clearly, they approved of Daphne's desire.

Harry smiled back at Daphne, getting up himself. He offered her his hand. "I respect, and admire, this obvious passion in you, Daphne." He said. "I would like to change this world we live in now. But there's no way I could do it alone, and I'm worried that I might falter. I would be glad to have you there to assist me."

Opening his right hand, Harry revealed the Black family ring. Daphne smiled, and with a glance at her parents, who nodded (Daniel slightly reluctantly), she took the ring and slipped it onto her finger. "When will the ceremony be held?"

"I'll place that decision in the hands of your parents," Harry said, bowing his head at Daniel, who looked pleased to discover this. Angela looked like she was planning the ceremony in her head, while Astoria bounced her knees with glee at the idea of being family with her hero.

Guinevere smiled grimly. _Now we have two left that we_ need _to solidify before Dumbledore realizes what we're doing,_ she thought. _Tracey mentioned that she'd need to tell us a bit about the third person, and then we'll need to find the last one on our own._

 _Who can we trust for that, though?_

 **End Chapter**

 _ **The opening scene was slightly inspired by a scene from Code Geass, where Lelouch is talking to C.C. about the Black Knights and his plans for the next attack. That, and I wanted some fluff between Harry and Guinevere. Those have been some of my favourite scenes to write in this story, to be honest - just those two enjoying each other's company and sharing happiness. There was very little happiness in sixth and seventh year, after all. The Atlantis history that Daphne is referring to will be brought into the fore in the next chapter.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Me: Backstory establishment. Oh boy.**_

 _ **Tyene: Relax. You've done this in other stories, and it did fine.**_

 _ **Me: I hope it still works alright.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

 **Chapter 5: Atlantis and Mu**

"You're sure that Dumbledore doesn't know you're the one kicking him and his lackies out?" Tracey asked as she, Luna, and Harry picked their way through the massive library that had been concealed by a hidden door in Grimmauld Place's basement.

"He only knows that it's connected to the Will." Harry promised, though he sounded a bit distracted as he ran his fingers across the dusty shelves. "Griphook and Miss Hydra assured me of the confidentiality. Besides, as far as he knows I'm still in Little Whinning, thrill seeking on the motorcycle to deal with my feelings."

"That man really doesn't believe you could handle it well, does he?" Luna asked.

Harry snorted. "He's always treated me like a child." He responded. "Carefully nurtured, and needing to be lead around by the hand. I don't think he respects me enough to think that I might be doing more. Of course, I'd be stupid not to be careful, so once I've found the books Ayla pointed out I'm heading back to the apartment." He glanced around and said, "You two are welcome to join me, if you wish to."

"Gwen sent me a letter about how much she loved the pool in the 'exercise room'," Tracey said, sounding like she was attempting to pronounce foreign words. "Would it be possible for me to try it myself?"

"You don't have to ask. Just say the word," Harry said, earning a smile from his second betrothed. It still felt weird to think of her and Daphne like that – the political arrangements made more sense in Harry's head at the moment, since he had so little experience with the fairer sex, not counting Hermione.

Harry involuntarily winced when he thought about Hermione's potential reaction to discovering he had more than one engagement ring. He could almost hear the shriek splitting his ears. _She has an image of the world in her mind, and she doesn't like shifting it does she?_ He thought to himself. He walked further down the narrow bookshelves, examining the titles.

The further back he went, the fewer were written in English. There was Old English, French, Latin, Galic, and even Ancient Greek. Luna joined him after a minute of stunned staring to identify each language the further back he went. It was amazing that many of these books were in as good a condition as they were, considering their potential age – each one seemed a bit more delicate than the last, and more dust coated.

"Somebody in the Black ancestry was a very dedicated librarian," Harry muttered in awe as Luna removed one text written entirely in Ancient Greek, dating back to the Roman Empire.

"Not all of them were politicians," Tracey commented, her voice floating from two shelves over. "It's kind of cool, I gotta admit. I don't know when the last time was that I saw this many different books all in one place..."

Harry went back further and came across a glass stand and casing, like from a Museum. It contained one book, again written in an unfamiliar language. "That's one of the ones you were looking for," Luna said before waving her wand and casting a translation spell.

 _Atlantis Queen_ , the book read.

"Then we've found it! Great, thanks Luna." Harry gently removed the glass screen and picked up the book with both hands. It was heavy and extremely long; big enough to serve as a doorstop for a less careful and historically minded person. "That's a pretty useful spell...could you teach me?"

"Sure. If I can see the pool first." Luna said with a small smile.

"Harry!" Tracey emerged from around the corner a moment later. "I found _Mu's Gates_! That's one of the ones you wanted right?"

"Yeah! That just leaves one more. Thank you Trace." Tracey handed him the book, which had a black cover and its title written in silver. A thought brought him up short. "Do you think the _Potter line_ book will be here? And if it isn't, where would I find it?"

Tracey frowned. "Good point. Well, it couldn't hurt to have a look around for a little longer."

It took about another ten minutes, but as it turned out the book on the Potter line _was_ there. It was sitting right underneath a frozen oil painting of a tall, black haired girl with silver eyes, dressed in slender white armour with a sword strapped to her side. Standing next to her was a man with green eyes and very dark red hair, dressed in dark clothes, sharply contrasting the woman he was standing next to. Yet they were wearing matching rings.

"Who are they?" Harry wondered.

Luna leaned forward, lightly brushing her fingers across the dusty dedication engraved on a silver staple "Lord Sir Luce Charles Potter, and his wife, Lady Dame Shirley Nadia Black. 650 – 845, 656 – 850. Prince and Lady Knight in Mu."

"Mu again..." Harry whispered.

"I think these may be ancestors of yours, Harry." Tracey said with quiet awe. Harry gazed up at the image, Shirley's warm but serious expression and Luce's dark, calculated eyes. The diamond ring on her finger was very similar to the one he had given Tracey just a few days ago. "I wonder why it's just an oil painting instead of a moving one."

"It must have been a personal choice," Harry said. Internally, he couldn't help but wish this had been a moving painting. Being able to speak to his ancestors...the advice they could have given him would have been something else. "I...I wonder if we'll be able to move this painting to the house I choose later."

"I don't see why not." Tracey said. "The house elves could probably move it for you without threatening to damage it."

Harry looked up into his ancestor's eyes for a moment before saying, "Yeah, thanks." Turning on his heel, carefully sliding the two history books under his arm, he started heading towards back to the entrance to the basement stairwell.

 _ ****~Later, back at Harry's Apartment~****_

Harry took a long pull from a glass of pepsi before leaning back against the headboard of his bed in the two three room apartment he had rented. Open in his hand was _The Potter Monarchy._ He had gone through ten pages now, and he was completely engrossed in the history that he was learning.

 _~~The Beginning of a Line~~_

 _The Potter family, at the very beginning, had not been born into royalty. Originally, they were simple potters, hard workers who lived in the lower city rings of Mu's many cities._

 _Mu, the ancient wizard empire that floated in the sky. Thousands of years ago, it ruled a third of the world, alongside Atlantis and Europa. Their origins were so old that no one is quiet sure when they came into existence. It is generally accepted that the civilized world is much older than the muggles believe, even the brilliant memories of wizards can only extend so far._

 _However, the history of the Potter line and the beginning of their monarchy, is remembered clearly. In 1,000 BC, the Potter family consisted of mother Jasmine Potter and her protective, hardworking son, Suzumaru. Jenny had fallen in love with an Atlantis warrior, who died during a skirmish. Without much income, the two sold decorative pottery for a living. Suzumaru loved his mother, and was a fairly talented, if reckless, fighter. He defended his mother from unwanted suitors and loan shark creditors._

 _At this particular point in time, Europa was ruled by the Gaunts. The family patriarch and king wanted to rule the whole world, and to that end had sent several assassins into Mu, with orders to strike the Mu royal family, the Abhorans, during the Moon Festival._

 _When the festival arrived, Suzumaru went into town with hopes of selling more of his work. A day into the ceremony, the Abhorans arrived in the lower city; the king Samuel, his wife Saldana, his consort Marianne Abbott, and Marianne's daughter Europhia._

Abbot? Like Hannah Abbot...from school? That same Abbott?

 _Europhia, a lover of the arts, strayed from her mother's side and found herself walking by Suzumaru's table. By accounts, the young man was instantly taken with her. It was at this time when the Gaunt assassins struck, manging to kill Saldana and severely wound Samuel. However, when they turned towards Europhia, that proved to be their undoing._

 _Suzumaru leapt to the princess's defence, taking on the varying assassins himself. Eyewitnesses put the number of assailants from three to fourteen. Suzumaru took them all on and successfully defeated them before the entire kingdom. Samuel Abhorans was impressed enough that, once he was well enough to stand, he made Suzumaru a knight and assigned him to officially protect his only heir._

 _The Gaunts, knowing they had injured the king, decided to make another attempt for a duel throne by offering the family's younger son Magnus in marriage to Europhia. Samuel moved to accept the proposal over his daughter's protests – she had fallen in love with her Knight when he rescued her. Magnus and his two elder brothers, Andres and Charles, arrived a week later. However, their plan was to assassinate the king and take over by force by opening the gates of the city in the middle of the night._

 _However, Mangus, the white sheep of the Gaunt family, ended up defying his family by striking up a friendship with Suzumaru and eventually confined his family's schemes to him. So when the wedding day arrived, the twosome fought against the elder Gaunt princes and sounded the alarm, bringing the army to reinforce the gates._

 _Following that attack and her father's death which resulted from a spell and shock, Europhia chose to marry Suzumaru, marking the start of the Potter legacy._

Harry let out a long breath, pressing his fingers against the page. _So that's what it meant to be a lord?_ He wondered. _That's where the idea of "Lords" came from? Actual royalty?_

Mu, Atlantis and Europa all had something in common – they were supposed ancient civilizations that muggles believed were just myths. But according to what he had read so far, they actually existed in reality – as wizard ruled empires. Empires with legacies so powerful, no amount of _obliviate_ had erased it from even the common people's minds.

Harry skimmed lightly through the next chapter. About three generations later, he hit up on the title that Daphne had spoken to him about. _Lady Knight._

 _~~Joanna Potter, the first Lady Knight of Mu~~_

 _Joanna Potter was the eldest daughter of the Potter family when war broke out again, this time against insurgency. Seline Gaunt, great granddaughter of Magnus, had stumbled bleeding onto the palace doorsteps, pleading for help. Her family's most powerful retainers had attempted a coup, killing her father and brothers. So she turned to her friend and ally for assistance._

 _Joanna swore that she would place Seline back on the Europa throne. Her father, however, was against it, having frowned upon the Gaunt's use of dark magic. Enfuriated by his refusal, Joanna declared herself a knight with her own authority and stormed out of the palace, sword and magic in hand._

 _Calling upon her most loyal servant, Delilah Greengrass, and her fellow Princess Cordelia Black, Joanna lead a surgical, vicious strike into the heart of Europa where the traitorous retainers were holed up with their bought allies. Having snuck in under the cover of night, Joanna caught the family by surprise and a viciously one sided battle ensued._

 _In the end, Joanna, Delilah and Cordelia placed Seline back on the throne. The family that betrayed her was purged, leaving only the three children because the women would not hurt innocents. However, so their treachery would always be remembered, that family's name was changed to Malfoy – a warning that they were faithless, and not to be trusted._

 _Upon her return, Joanna's father acknowledged her tactical brilliance and what she achieved. He allowed her to keep her self-given Knight title, handing some military power over to the women in the family which hadn't really been done before._

 _Joanna would go on to knight Delilah for her loyalty, and Cordelia would eventually bring the practice over to her family and Atlantis several years later. It helped that Delilah married Cordelia's brother, Jace._

 **~Line Break**

Harry let out a breath, lowering the book slightly. So that's what Daphne was alluding to? _With Riddle on the horizon, that makes some sense. Ayla said that she'd have a good mind in the military._ His lip twitched. _I'd have to give her forces for that to work out._

Voldemort had his death eaters. Dumbledore had the Order, but they were under equipped and in hiding, instead of standing out in the open and facing them.

Harry himself had the DA. They had stood behind him no matter what, and the core members had followed him into the Ministry trap. They were all young like him, and Harry would rather not bring his fellow students into the dangerous war against Voldemort. However, Harry also knew that they were likely to get drawn into it anyway. This war involved their families, their parents, and their futures. Umbridge would love to throw every single muggleborn under the bus if it was within her power, that much Harry knew.

I can pretend to be neutral, Harry thought, but show my true self to them. The DA kept saying that they trusted me and would follow my lead. It's a possibility...I should probably talk about it with Gwen and my wives.

Wives. Plural. Harry let out a nervous laugh as he thought about it. He could only hope that he would be able to handle it.

"How's the history learning coming along?" Guinevere asked, emerging from the doorway with a magazine in her hand.

Harry sighed and rubbed his head. "I'm starting to understand some concepts behind the pure blood lordship, but there's still a huge timespace between the beginnings of those practices and what exists now. But I just found out some unsurprising things about the Malfoys."

"What's that?" Guinevere asked, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"They were power hungry back in the days before the medieval era." Harry said. "They got the name 'Malfoy' after attempting to usurp rulership of Europa."

"Molly and Arthur used to tell me bedtime stories about Europa, Mu and Atlantis." Guinevere recalled with a small smile. "They called them the Three Cornerstones of Wizard history. The stories are so old that even some of us have forgotten them. My favourite story was always _Europhia and Suzumaru_."

Harry chuckled and raised the book up. "Well, now you've got a printed version."

Guinevere smiled brightly in response. Harry placed the book on the nightstand and asked, "How's Tracey taking to the pool?"

"She's obsessed with the diving board." Guinevere said. "I think we'll need a pool in our official Manor. Have you looked around for that?"

"I've done some searching, and a couple places look promising. I just want everyone to get a good look at it before I decide anything." Harry responded. He gestured over to the desktop computer sitting on the table in the living room. "Tell me what you think so far, if you'd like."

Guinevere got up and walked over. Harry had walked her through how to use a computer a few days ago, and she was unsurprisingly fascinated. "Arthur would probably drool if he saw this," she remarked with her usual twinge of both uncertainty and sadness when she talked about her adoptive family. "Harry, I saw something in this magazine in the 'game section'. What's a 'Super Nintendo'?"

Harry blinked, and chuckled. He couldn't quite help it. "Oh, I think you'd like that. It's a game system that you attach to the TV, and switch out varying cartridges to play a variety of games." He glanced at the magazine she had been holding. "Was there a particular one mentioned?"

"I think it was called Super Mario," Guinevere responded, her brow furrowed slightly.

"There's a classic." Harry said. Dudley had started sharing his games after his cousin came home from school, so Harry had actually experienced it in the moments he could rouse himself out of his depression. "Dudley could probably loan you his copy if you asked."

"First I'd have to get Luna off the TV." Guinevere said jokingly. "She's still glued to the couch. The last time I checked, she was trying to binge watch all the Disney movies. She's on Dumbo now."

"Lovely." Harry chuckled. Glancing at his clock, he said, "Hey, I was planning to go out to Godric's Hollow and see our parent's tombstones. You don't have to come if you don't want, but would you like to?"

Guinevere blinked and turned away from the computer to look at him. Her brown eyes became clouded over, a mixture of emotions flitting across her face. After a moment, she stood up and said, "You know...yeah. I think I want to do that."

 ****~An Hour Later~****

 **Godric's Hollow**

The air was cool and the sun was beginning to set as Harry and Guinevere stepped off the Knight Bus at Godric's Hollow. The sky was cast in pinks, violets, and golds, painting the air and atmosphere as they passed through the iron gates and headed into the town. For a summer night, it was very temperate, a cold wind giving Guinevere a mild chill. Harry offered her his sweater, which she took with a small, grateful smile.

Their feet crunched on the twigs and gravel as they walked through the streets. Godric's Hollow was a quiet place, with few people who still lived there. However, there was still a shop open, which Guinevere stopped at to buy several flowers and a small jewel case, which she payed for with the money from her vault.

A few minutes walk, the siblings came to the hamlet's graveyard. Guinevere froze up for a moment, staring across the varying tombstones, her fingers tightening slightly. Her brother looked at her, but before he could speak Guinevere started walking forward again. Her eyes had fallen on a large slab with much writing on it, overlooked by an angel.

Slowly, carefully, Guinevere knelt in front of the stone monolith. _Here lie James Charles Potter and Lily Marian Potter._ There were all sorts of written phrases along the sides of the wooden plates and others laying around the grave, expressing their sorrow at the loss, and giving encouragement to the Boy Who Lived.

Gently Guinevere placed the flowers on the grave, before taking out the jewel case and placing it there as well. She took a couple shaky breaths as Harry walked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she began to talk.

"Hello...mum. Dad. I, uh...I haven't been here before, and I'm sorry about that. I...I hadn't known the truth till a little while ago. I thought I was a Weasley. I...I wonder if you wanted me to go and be hidden with another family. If you did, I want you to know that...that I'm grateful. For keeping me safe." A few tears dripped down her face. "I...I just wish I had known. I've always admired your final story...yet I didn't know anything about the rest of your life."

Guinevere's hand shook slightly. "I wish I could have grown up with you." She whispered. "That I could have grown up with Harry. I..." She took a deep breath. "I miss you. Both of you. I..." She let out a small sob.

Harry knelt down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. The girl shivered, and finally burst into small, gentle sobs. The two remained there for a little while, simply sharing their grief.

 **~Line Break~**

"You okay now?"

Guinevere nodded slowly. "Yes. I...I think I feel a little better than before, to be honest." She stood up, Harry right behind her. "I'm thankful for that."

"I've wanted to come out here for a while." Harry said. "I think it was worth it."

His eyes drifted across the graveyard, before he let out a small noise of surprise. "What is it?" Guinevere asked. Harry pointed across the field, where a young woman was kneeling in the grass. She looked very familiar.

It was Pansy Parkinson.

 **~Line Break~**

Pansy locked her fingers together, kneeling in front of the weathered tombstone. Her eyes were almost closed, silently willing herself not to cry. She was a Slytherin. She did not show emotion. She did not show weakness. Lightly she reached out and brushed her fingers along the name. _Aileen Parkinson._

Her aunt. The only person who had really been a mother to her. Sarah Essin/Parkinson didn't count; she never had any time for Pansy. She was a cold hearted social climber, and Pansy loathed her. Aileen had been the last person that she had allowed herself to love.

There was no place for love in Slytherin.

That muggleborn man. He had stolen Aileen's life. Pansy's fingers clenched. The familiar rush of anger and pain strangled her chest.

"Pansy? Is that you?"

Pansy got to her feet and turned around. Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter were both staring at her. Her heart tightened; what where they doing here?

"Potter. Weasley. What are you doing here?" She snapped.

"My parents are buried here." Harry responded. He was looking oddly at her; it was as if he was seeing her differently than he ever had before. It made her wary. "I didn't realize you had family here too."

Pansy grimaced. Owen's words rang in her mind. _She didn't consider herself part of our family._ "I don't." She responded.

"Oh?" Ginny said, frowning. She pointed at the stone. "The stone says Aileen Parkinson. That's your name, isn't it? Why would you come out here to visit a stranger?"

"It's none of your business." Pansy fired off, agitated. She hated it when people saw her like this. Especially people like Potter. Then, almost despite herself, she muttered, "She was my aunt."

"...I'm sorry for your loss." Harry said.

"No you aren't." Pansy muttered.

"Why on earth would I lie about something like that?" Harry asked, biting hard against any feeling of exasperation. Pansy's eyes were troubled. He didn't want to set her off.

"People like you don't pity people like me." Pansy responded, her voice harsh and firm as if stating a fact. "You hate me."

"I never hated you." Harry responded quietly. "Sure, you've hung out with Draco a lot, but that's just aggravating. I don't have any hatred of you."

"You're a half blood."

"No. I'm a person." Harry responded. "And so are you." Pansy looked up sharply at him. Her eyes were a very dark blue, framed by wavy heather brown hair. "That's the only way I think of people. That's all I see when I look at you. A person."

"..." Pansy stared at him for a second, before abruptly turning around and walking away, her gait nervous and hurried.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **This is my first time writing a multi layered Pansy. I have to say, I'm enjoying it. I hope you guys like her too.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Reading of the Will**

"Can I really afford not to show up personally to the Will reading?" Harry couldn't help but ask again as he paced up and down the living room of the apartment.

Lenore Hydra gave him a mildly amused look. "As I've already assured you, my job is to safeguard your interests. That includes acting as your proxy, since the atmosphere these days is 'threatening'." She put the words in air quotes, and smiled. "I'll throw in the Emancipation along with it, since Dumbledore is likely to tail me on the way out."

"He won't like that." Harry noted grimly.

"It won't be any of his business at that point." Lenore responded. "Just act quiet and reserved at school, and give him some lip service to what he expects. Grief changes people, after all."

"She's got a point, Harry." Tracey's voice floated from the next room. "Once you choose your last two wives and officially revive the houses, you won't need to keep up the facade, but it would still be smart to keep your opponents in the dark about what you know and what you're planning."

"Even if you don't have solid plans?" Harry asked ruefully.

" _Especially_ if you don't have solid plans," Lenore admonished him, looking amused. "I'll give you my memory of this afternoon so you can see the proceeds for yourself. Have a nice afternoon." Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she vanished into the hallway and headed for the elevator.

Harry let out a long breath, and walked into the next room where Tracey was sitting. There was wrap on the floor, with several cans of paint sitting open next to the chair where she was sitting. Directly in front of her was a canvas with the beginnings of a city landscape having been painted onto it. Tracey's red-gold hair was tied back in a bun, and she was wearing muggle paint splatter clothes, her brush having been dipped in a new mixture and was poised to touch the canvas again. Sitting on a stand to her right was a picture of the New York skyline, which she was replicating.

"That looks amazing, Tracey." Harry said. Tracey let out a noise of surprise at his entrance but didn't turn around; her focus was still mainly on her work. "Very professional. How long have you been painting?"

"Ten years," Tracey responded, lightly brushing a thin line to begin the Empire State Building. "When I was a child, this was all I wanted to do. It still is, for the most part. Landscapes are my favourite, but I can do people pretty well." She flashed him a small smile. "I've been thinking about convincing you and Gwen to sit down for a little so I can paint you two as well."

"Depends; how long would 'a little' consistent as?" Harry asked lightly.

Tracey put on a look of deep contemplation. "Two hours?" She said. The two faux scowled at each other before bursting out into laughter. "But seriously, if you sit and take a big enough picture, I could work from that."

"I'm honoured and somewhat embarrassed by the offer. We'll arrange that the next time Gwen gets out of the house." Harry responded. Tracey glanced over at him and smiled. "How long have you been working at this one?"

"A few hours." Tracey said, finishing up the scaling of the building. Then she washed off the brush in the extra jar, dried it, and grabbed the red canister off the ground. "Artistry requires patience, and a careful hand."

"What else have you done?"

"The view from my father's vacation home in Canada, for one. I have one for each season." Tracey said, once again absorbed in her work. "It was three stories and sat a couple dozen metres away from a lake shore. Sunrise and sunset, especially when mother's gardens were in bloom, was quite spectacular. I've also painted Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, the former in Spring and the latter in Winter. There's also the constellations and the Forbidden Forest, but lately I've been wishing I could see more varied environments. No matter what corner of the city I stand in, it always seems to look the same."

Tracey took a moment to stretch her cramped arms before returning to the painting. "However, coming out here has reawakened my passion with a vengeance. I do hope we do some travelling in the not too distant future, because if it's as fascinating as what I've seen here, I shall never run out of material."

"Once this nightmare is over, I'll see what I can do about that." Harry said. "I admit, I always wanted to go see different places." His eyes narrowed slightly. "And personally, I think I'll be glad to be shot of Britain for a while once the Death Eaters are sent underground."

Tracey grimaced slightly. "You aren't the only one," She promised. "I've got plenty of bad memories here, myself."

"You do?"

Tracey pondered the question for a second, before starting, "I used to have a friend, before I met Daphne. My best friend. We did everything together as little girls."

"Did something happen to her?" Harry asked as gently as he could.

"Well, we were both pure blood girls." Tracey snorted at the title, before going on. "Her family was...much more conservative than mine. We're talking Malfoy levels of conservative."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It isn't. You see, the closest thing my friend had to a mother figure was her aunt. Her real mum was a trophy wife and a social climber. Her aunt, however, she was awesome." Tracey smiled at the memory of the woman. "She was full of life and sass. It was hard to believe that she was raised conservative. However, the family didn't like it. They thought her behaviour was often 'disgraceful', 'unbecoming', all that tripe. But they tolerated it until she went and committed the ultimate sin."

"Which was?" Harry didn't like where this was going.

"She fell in love with a muggleborn." Tracey said simply. "They tried to elope, but her brother caught them leaving. The next morning, she was dead."

Harry sat in silence for a moment while he connected the dots. "Her own family killed her?" He hissed in disbelief. "For falling in love?"

Tracey nodded seriously. "Those are Honour Killings, Harry. They're less common in this day and age, but the fanatical families would rather spill their own blood than see it mingle with 'dirty muggle spawn'." She shook her head. "I miss the Pansy Parkinson I knew as a little girl. Did you know she used to play the violin?"

"Whoa! Pansy Parkinson, the Slytherin?"

"One and the same. Hard to believe, I know."

"Actually, not really." Tracey gave him a surprised look, prompting him to elaborate, "Gwen and I went to visit our parents' graves a week ago, and we ran into her there. She was tending to a tombstone for a person called Aileen Parkinson."

Tracey's eyes grew stormy, and she stared back at her painting. "Yeah; that was her."

"Does...does Pansy know who killed her?" Harry asked carefully.

Tracey shook her head. "She was told Aileen's muggleborn lover was responsible. I have no idea what happened to him, though it's likely that he was killed as well. From Owen's point of view, it makes twisted sense – it wasn't _his_ fault for doing this, you see. Aileen _made_ him do it by being ensnared by that lesser cretin."

Harry let out a wordless snarl and started pacing around the room. Tracey remained lazer focused on her painting, but the whiteness of her knuckles and the very deliberate lines she was drawing spoke quite clearly of her mental state.

The two stood in silence. "What happened after that?" Harry asked softly. "To Pansy?"

"She became the cold girl you remember from school." Tracey said, trying to sound matter of fact, but there was a noticeable strain in her voice. Harry walked over and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Her tension let out somewhat at that, which made both of them blush slightly when they realized it. Sounding more sad and regretful, Tracey finished, "She stopped coming to visit me. I figured it was grief. By the time she got to school, all that anger that should have been pointed at Owen and her grandfather was pointed elsewhere."

"Did you ever try to talk to her?"

Tracey sighed. "I wanted to, a lot. But whenever I tried, all I could do was compare who she used to be in my head, to this tormented, angry wraith, and it was too painful. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to convince her, or she wouldn't listen to me. I learned the truth from mum back in my first year, when I talked to her about you."

"About me?"

"Yeah. I told her I thought you were pretty friendly, but back then mum had to contend with Kaius, who hated you. She told me not to befriend you – not to be deliberately hostile or anything, but to keep my distance. When I demanded to know why, by the time third year rolled around, she told me that story."

"...Did she care about you? Back when you were friends?"

Tracey cracked a small smile. "You would have thought we were sisters. We almost never went anywhere without each other."

"Then I think she would believe you." Harry said. Tracey looked up at him, both hopeful and curious. "When I saw her in the graveyard, I asked her who she was visiting. At first, she pretended it was a stranger, but then she said it was her aunt. Her twisted family hasn't managed to server that love she had for her. It's worth at least trying, I think."

Tracey's expression let up for a moment, before she blinked at him. "I'm grateful, Harry, but I admit I'm a little surprised."

"That I'm worried about a Slytherin?"

Tracey blushed a bit. "That isn't a slight against you, I swear; I know most of my house has been pretty nasty to you. Plus she's a pure blood; she may not believe it but she puts up a pretty nasty facade."

"I don't believe in an eye for an eye, unless the person delivering it is evil like Voldemort or his minions." Harry said firmly. "And I'll tell you the same thing I told Pansy – I don't see house divides or pure bloods. When I look at her, and you, I see people – people who have suffered, and people who are talented and I'm glad I'm getting to know them more."

Tracey gently set her paintbrush down and smiled up at Harry again. "And I'm glad I'm getting to know you too," She said quietly. "I'm just sorry that we couldn't have been friends for longer."

"Me too." Harry said. "But let's see if we can create a world where people like us can be friends, no matter what."

The two smiled, and then Harry pulled up a chair. "Do you mind if I watch you work?"

 _ ****~Several Hours Later~****_

 _ **~In a Ministry Hearing Chamber~**_

Narcissa Malfoy was a patient woman. She had been raised a Black, and being married into the Malfoy family meant that there had been no curb on her viciously selfish and ambitious nature. Her son Draco had inherited the worst of her and her husband's traits. She was at the Reading of Sirius Black's Will because she was certain her son was about to be named Lord Black; making the Malfoy family Ancient and Noble and finally granting her and her family the kind of power she had desired all her life.

With the right kind of family magics – and Narcissa knew many, she had been born a Black after all – she could augment Draco's strength with rituals. He would enter Voldemort's army as a loyal subordinate, climb the ladder to be his most trusted – just like his father – and, when the monster's guard was at its lowest, stab him in the back. With that, Draco would claim Slytherin, and with that most of the Ministry's power would be hers without having to spend so many galleons on bribes. Money didn't grow on trees, after all, and at this rate – with her currently attempting to buy a pardon for her husband – they would risk running low.

Likely Sirius wouldn't have wanted Draco to be Lord Black. But the man had died without any children. The title would pass on to his next of kin. Narcissa was sure of that. _You should have chosen our side, Sirius_ , the woman thought.

Most of the dignitaries were already there, but there were still a few minutes left, and stragglers were emerging. Narcissa, who had been taking a drink, nearly choked when a familiar duo entered the room and walked to the other of the ante chamber.

"What's _she_ doing here, mother?!" Draco demanded, glaring angrily at Ayla Hydra, who sat down next to her aunt, that insipid lawyer, as if she belonged in their world.

Narcissa hated the Hydras on sight. It had been one thing for her husband to find some temporary amusement while she had been pregnant. It was another thing entirely to not get rid of the resulting spawn! Narcissa didn't care about ancient family law in this respect. The girl's continued life was an insult to her and her son, the true Malfoy. At least Lucius hadn't given her the family name. To that extent, he had been reasonable. _I would hardly threaten our son's future with a bastard I care nothing for,_ he had promised her.

Lenore caught sight of the death glares heading her way, and she did something that unnerved Narcissa greatly. She smirked.

As a rule, lawyers didn't smirk unless they knew something you didn't. And Narcissa had been in the game long enough to recognize the signs.

"All rise..."

"Wait."

Percival Weasley, who was in charge of the reading since he had been promoted within the Ministry, sputtered to a halt and stared down at the one who had interupted. It was a goblin emissary from the bank.

"We have done a final audit in the vault in question," the creature said, "and we have informed the Ministry that there have been some alternations. We never received a response."

An eruption of muttering filled the common room. Dumbledore, of course, called for silence, before frowning down at the creature. "How long ago did you discover it?"

"Four weeks, wizard." The goblin sneered. "I was beginning to believe we were being ignored."

"No, never, our good friend," Dumbledore said soothingly. "The Ministry has been experiencing some upheval, so the papers must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Please, give us the updated information. We wouldn't want anyone getting short changed thanks to poor paper pushing."

There were some scatters of laughter, but they didn't last long. Narcissa glared at the old man, at the creature, and finally at Lenore. Was this what she was going on about?

With the snap of his fingers, the papers Percy had been about to read were replaced by new ones. Bowing slightly – the gesture looked quite sarcastic – the goblin then left the room. Ayla smirked, her aunt laying a hand on her shoulder.

Percy activated the will, which began to speak on its own as many did.

" _This is the Last Will and Testament of Lord Sirius Orion Black, head of the House of Black and all the insipid titles that go along with it."_ The voice sounded like Sirius's, since he had completed it with a dictation quill. More nervous chuckles scattered around. " _Being of sound mind and sound body – shut up, Remus – I hereby arrange these following testaments in case I may die in the tribulations to come."_

" _Firstly, as I am without children of my own, it is with great happiness that I adopt my godson, Harry James Potter, into my family as my primary Heir."_

"WHAT?!" Draco shrieked; Narcissa had to lay a heavy hand on his shoulder to get him to shut up, her heart was pounding. Lenore's smirk matched her nieces, sending waves of rage through the Malfoy lady. They must have set this up!"

" _Furthermore, this means that the titles, land, votes and finances of House Black will pass on to his control. Should I die in the midst of this ridiculous war, I leave my permission to grant Harry Potter-Black emancipation, so he may use all his wits and fullest strength to survive and_ do _something about this shithole we call a country."_

Nervous, shocked silence followed this.

" _To my cousin Andromeda and her daughter Dora, I grant you reinstatement into our family, if only so you can benefit from financial support. You were always my favourite cousin, Andy."_

" _To my friend Remus Lupin, I leave the contents of the second section of my vault, and this to say – for god's sake, buy some better clothes, and have kids. Maybe a few with pink hair."_

In the stands, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks went identical shades of red, though it couldn't be ignored that they were sitting right next to each other. Andromeda looked both sad and happy; her husband put a steadying hand on her arm.

" _To my cousin Narcissa Malfoy and her hellspawn – I leave you nothing, and don't think I don't know that you tried to ensure the Lord Black title would pass to you. I have ensured otherwise. I disown you from my house. I refuse to recognize you, and I doubt Harry will either."_

Narcissa sputtered. Draco screamed curses at the will, swearing that it was faked and he must be Lord Black until the aurors threatened to remove him; at that point he finally quieted to prevent suffering further public humiliation.

When the will was finished, there was nearly pandemonium.

"Where is Lord Black?!" Dumbledore called over the noise.

"Elsewhere." The lawyer, Lenore said. "He didn't think it was prudent to come. He may be emancipated, but he is still in school – that's what he said to me."

"You?" 

"I'm the lawyer hired by Gringotts to assist with the handling of the Black estate." Lenore said casually. Narcissa thought about drawing her wand and killing the woman right then and there, but the room was full of aurors. It wouldn't achieve anything. "Lord Black was grateful for my assistance; he said 'this sort of math has always made my head spin'."

"But if Harry had come to me-"

"With all due respect sir, he is emancipated." Lenore retorted. Ayla had buried her face in her hands now, her shoulders shaking with repressed laughter. Narcissa grabbed her son's wand arm. "He doesn't need to come to you for anything."

Dumbledore paled.

Percy swallowed. "The...the hearing is completed. Those who were mentioned in the will, please proceed to speak with the goblins and the bank..."

Across the room, from both the Malfoys and Dumbledore and his pet Order members, Beatrice Abbot glanced over at her husband. "Harry Potter-Black...that's the boy Hannah said saved her life during her second year at Hogwarts, isn't it?"

Tobias sighed heavily. He had been dreading that connection being made. He knew the history of Life Debts among high society, even by those who worked for Dumbledore. "Indeed. I had wondered if he was ever going to address the Life Debt."

"Wouldn't he have come here to state his intentions to us?" Beatrice wondered.

"He was raised muggle. He may not know all the protocols." Tobias pointed out. "But, with the Black, Potter and Slytherin influences, we'd best approach him first and come to some sort of beneficial conclusion."

"Do you think he'll want the mercenary core?" Beatrice asked quietly as the twosome got up to leave.

"If I were in his place, I would." Tobias chuckled darkly. Beatrice knew what that meant. "Besides, I imagine those men are dying to stretch their muscles. And not for now, then when?" He gently put an arm around her shoulder. "After all, that Voldemort bastard thinks you're an undesirable. I may just unleash them either way."

"Do you think the victory would last?"

"If that boy really is a Prophecy Child? It just might."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Me: I swear I'm going to write at least 3,000 words every day, as training for when I write my original stories.**_

 _ **Tyene: (deadpan) Good for you.**_

 _ **Me: You could be a bit supportive!**_

 _ **Tyene: I already am.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**_

 **Chapter 7: This Train Has No Breaks**

"I can't see how I'm supposed to focus on schoolwork with Voldemort breathing down our collective necks," Harry grunted, staring up at the gateway to Platform 9 and 3/4.

Ayla snorted sympathetically. "I know. Just put up a pretense of it, and remember you can always drop out when things get worse."

"You don't mean 'if'?"

"Riddle is _back_ , Harry. There is no 'if', just 'when'."

Harry bit his lip and nodded. Ayla went through the wall, and he followed after her with a moment of thought. On the platform, Tracey and Daphne were already standing together, discussing something. Daphne was openly wearing the Black ring, while Tracey was concealing the Potter ring under a minor charm. Harry made his way over to them.

"Hello," He started. Daphne glanced at him, smiled and pressed her fingers against her lips.

"We can talk on the train. Let's get going before the Weasleys and Granger show up."

Harry grimaced slightly at the mention of them, and nodded. The four of them stepped onboard the Hogwarts Express and began making their way to the back of the train. It didn't take long until they came across Luna, who had already staked out a compartment for them. She was openly wearing the Peverell ring; no one knew that the House of Potter had absorbed that family line yet. Smiling, Harry walked in with the three girls behind him.

"Hey Luna. How's life?" Harry asked as they sat down. Tracey slid the door closed with a _bang_ and put a charm on it that warned them who was approaching.

"I've been doing alright," Luna said with a small smile. "Daddy's latest edition of The Quibbler has been selling more than anything else he's written in a while. Thank you for putting it in the package with the latest Daily Prophet, Daphne."

Daphne chuckled darkly. "You're more than welcome. It's not time enough to put the knowledge that Voldemort is a half blood in the direct papers – the editors are too frightened. But once it's spread for a while, and Harry wins a good victory, it will go live."

"I always liked the Quibbler." Tracey said. "Been subscribed for three years. Most people don't seem to be smart enough to realize the 'absurd' content is all political commentary and satire."

"I always got a kick out of people's reactions when they read it," Ayla said with a laugh.

Luna nodded. "It allows Daddy to criticize people like Fudge and his drones without getting himself or me in trouble," She said.

Harry leaned back against his seat and glanced out the window. The train was speeding along, faster than normal. He felt like that was now a part of his life – being hurtled forward by forces out of anyone's control, and all he could do was just react fast enough to protect everyone and himself. Shaking his head, he pulled _Atlantis Queen_ out of his bookbag and started reading from his last stopping point.

"Been doing your research, Harry?" Daphne inquired with a smile.

Harry chuckled lightly, though there was little humour in it. "It's pretty much all I've been doing. I've learned a lot about our history, and can I register my annoyance that none of this was taught in History Class?"

Ayla snorted. "That's Binns for you. He died during a goblin-wizard war, so that's all he drones on about in his classes. I have no idea why Dumbledore or one of the teachers beneath him doesn't exorcise him or move the History classroom away from his hideout."

"It would be that easy." Tracey agreed sourly. "Dumbledore seems to have an aversion to doing the easy and sensible thing when it comes to making things better."

The spell which had been placed on the door pulsed softly, warning of an approach. Harry turned his eyes back down to his book when it roughly slid open, revealing Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, where have you been for the last month?" Hermione asked, staring at the book he was holding. She had diligently followed the order of a communication blackout until the news of Harry's ascension to Lord Black broke out. Dumbledore then had them try to get in contact with him, but their letters had gone unanswered.

Ginny, when asked if she had spoken to him when they met on the platform, had scowled at her and waspishly responded, "He probably knows you've been ignoring him."

Harry ignored her, staring down at his book. "Please, barge right in why don't you?" Daphne asked coolly. "It wasn't as if we were in the middle of a conversation or something."

Ron spoke next. "Harry, why are you sitting with a bunch of Slytherins?"

"I'm a _Ravenclaw_ ," Ayla said long sufferingly. Thanks to looking somewhat like Malfoy, people constantly assumed she was in Slytherin.

"I've made new friends," Harry responded flatly. "When I was at my lowest, I got in contact with them, and they gave me much needed support. Support, I should mention, that did not come from you. That is why I'm sitting with them, Ronald."

"But Harry, Dumbledore said-"

"Dumbledore has no authority over what I do outside of school." Harry snapped, glaring at Hermione. "And now that I am emancipated, he has no authority over me, period. Since clearly pleasing him is more important to you than being my friend, do run along and collect your next instructions from him. I'm sure he has many, seeing how he interfered with and micromanaged my life."

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. She looked around the room; surely there would be a sign for this inexplicable behaviour on his part. He was sitting with Slytherins! However, none of the girls were moving their lips or had their wands out, and Luna was with him.

Her eyes fell on Daphne's right hand. An elegant looking sapphire ring was sitting on her finger. It looked like an engagement ring. The honey blonde Slytherin noticed her scrutiny, and delicately raised one eyebrow at her.

Harry saw Hermione's face lighting up dangerously, and waved one hand to the right. He had learned a little wandless magic over the summer. The door slammed closed in the twosome's face, and resisted their attempts to reopen it.

"Classy," Ayla snorted.

"I wonder where Gwen is," Harry muttered.

"Probably not far away." Tracey said. "She'll probably save a spot for you at the Gryffindor table."

"I won't be staying in the tower, though. I rented a house in Hogsmeade." Harry recalled.

"Well, you still have to _eat_ ," Tracey slapped his shoulder and grinned fondly at him. "And where else would you eat?"

"...The Slytherin table?"

Ayla burst out cackling while Daphne rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that'll help you keep your low profile. The Golden Gryffindor at the Slytherin table. Brilliant!"

"I hate that title. You know that."

"That's not the point right now. The point is that you're putting on a pretense of neutrality. Sitting at our table, as lovely as that would be my fiance, would be very counter intuitive." Daphne lectured him.

Harry let out a small sigh. "I guess you're right." He let out a small chuckle. "It's a good thing I have you girls around. My first plan is always to charge in straight up."

"How very Gryffindor of you," Daphne said teasingly, a rare, warm smile on her face. "It's your best and worst quality, Black. Try to temper it."

 ****~At the end of the train ride~****

Harry split with his three fiances just before entering the Great Hall, heading towards the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, Guinevere was waiting for him there, waving him down. With a smile, he strode over and sat down next to her, with Lavander Brown and the Patil twins blocking off the nearby seats from Ron and Hermione, who had started his way the moment he entered. While cross table reationships were rare, Padma sat with her sister often enough that it didn't grab attention.

"Tacky, Hermione." Guinevere muttered when the muggleborn went red at the face again. "I can't believe she didn't write to you."

"Well, she already did it once," Harry said with a shrug.

"But she should be smarter than that. She's smart, she shoves that down everyone's throat." Guinevere grumbled. At Harry's puzzled look, his little sister elaborated, "Hermione likes to 'reread' my essays before I submit them. It's extremely frustrating."

"I know!" Lavender exclaimed, her pretty face scrunching up unhappily. "She does that to me too. She treats me like I'm stupid!" Pavarti put a sympathetic hand on her friend's arm while Padma scowled.

"I'm sorry I didn't know about that," Harry said with a frown. "I would have asked her to cut it out."

Lavender smiled. "Don't worry, Harry. We learned how to deal with her. It wouldn't be fair to expect you to deal with all our problems."

Harry blushed slightly, while Guinevere lightly ribbed him about his hero complex. Lavender and Pavarti both giggled about that. Harry then formally apologized to Pavarti about his behaviour during the Yule Ball. "You're a lovely lady, and I should have given you my full attention. I'm sorry."

"Oh, that? Harry, that was two years ago! I'm over it. But thank you nonetheless!" Pavarti said cheerfully.

"I rather wish _Ron_ would apologize," Padma muttered.

"I think he might've, if he was less terrible with girls. You should hear him argue with Hermione," Guinevere said in a conspirator tone.

"We do," Padma deadpanned. "All the time." Pavarti and Lavender both burst into peals of laughter, and even Harry and Gwen couldn't help but grin.

 **~Line Break~**

"Hello, Pansy."

Pansy nearly dropped her plate on the ground at Tracey's voice. She spun around, finding herself face to face with her old childhood friend. Tracey had grown a lot since they were six; she was a beautiful young woman who hadn't spoken much with her since they stopped seeing each other after childhood. Pansy stood frozen, uncertain of how to respond, staring into the eyes of her oldest friend.

"Tracey," She managed eventually, uncertain. She had originally intended to sit with Draco, but he was too busy sulking and lashing out at anyone who had spoken to him. Right now, Draco was glaring bitterly across the hall to where Harry Potter was sitting.

Tracey leaned over, loaded her plate with two scoops of mint, caramel and vanilla ice cream, and smiled tentatively at her. "Is this seat taken?" She asked, lightly nudging the empty chair next to Pansy's. "Daphne's talking with her sister and the Moon siblings."

"I..." Pansy was thrown for a loop. She glanced down at her feet, and in a second shrugged. "O-Okay. Why not? It's not like it's reserved." She finished flippantly, as she pulled her chair out and sat down in it, placing her plate down and putting on some ice cream of her own.

"Thank you," Tracey said softly. She took the seat and sat down next to her. For several minutes, Pansy was afraid of what to say, but Tracey didn't push her for anything. They simply sat in silence, taking in each other's company. It was strange; they hadn't been in a place like this since they were little girls.

It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, like Pansy had initially expected. In fact, it felt fairly nice.

"How have things been going?" Tracey asked softly.

"I..." Pansy uncertainly turned her spoon over between her fingers. "It's been, um..." She bit her lip and hissed slightly, frustrated with herself. "It's been fine."

Tracey blinked at her. "Are you sure? That doesn't sound very fine."

Pansy stared down at her plate. Tracey had always been able to see into her emotions, even after she started learning the tricks of the trade from Sarah. "Well, things have gotten complicated lately, haven't they?" She asked, hoping to redirect the focus of the conversation.

Tracey nodded. "Yup; that can't be denied." She admitted. "Are you scared of what might be coming?"

Pansy's lip twitched, and she was about to fire off a comment about how heiresses never showed fear, Tracey surprised her for the second time in the space of a minute. "I'm a bit scared myself," she said softly.

"You are?" Pansy asked cautiously. She wasn't sure where Tracey was going with this.

"Well, it's going to be a war." Tracey noted. "Wars between two different sides rarely _stay_ just between them. Even if you try to stay out of the way, you end up getting burned." She took another bite of ice cream.

"...I guess I'm a little scared." Pansy admitted. "Father is talking about getting me engaged to Draco. He said the Malfoys would have the clout to keep me safe."

Tracey made a face. "Are you interested in him, Pansy?"

Pansy snorted. "There's not much to be interested _in_." She said sourly. Her friend snorted and quickly forced more food in when Draco and his guard Goyle both glanced over their way. Once they looked away, Pansy went on, "He's an irritable child who throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way. You should have seen him when he lost a Quidditch match to Weasley."

Tracey snickered. "I think I'm lucky I missed it, given your tone."

Pansy shrugged and forced herself not to chuckle – she already felt a bit more lighthearted. "Well, a few nights with me working my _magic_ on him, I think I'd be able to make him into something some acceptable." Controlling a husband through sex was one of the ways an heiress traditionally gained power.

"That still sounds like a sour future, Pansy." Tracey said.

Pansy snorted. "That's our lot in life, isn't it?"

"Oh, I wouldn't think so," Tracey said with a small, playful smile. Pansy gave her a curious look, and Tracey revealed her hand. Her ring finger had been decorated by a gold ring with a diamond jewel, sophisticated and pretty.

"Good lord!" Pansy exclaimed. "I had no idea you had found someone."

"I was surprised too. Mum brought the whole thing to my attention." Tracey said with a smile. "I met him in July. He was a lovely gentleman to me. He's about as far removed from Draco as it can get."

"Wow." Pansy felt envy flitting across her heart. "Who is it?"

Tracey seemed to think for a moment. Then she pointed her finger across the room, to where Harry Potter was sitting.

Pansy gaped. "You've got to be kidding."

"Apparently, mother arranged the contract with Lily Potter before the woman went into hiding." Tracey explained. "He was very cordial to me."

"He's a Gryffindor!"

"Pansy, you know that doesn't really matter outside of this place," Tracey pointed out, "Unless you're the heir or heiress to the family. When I met him, he was extremely sweet."

Pansy put her head in her hands. "Tracey, being anywhere near him is dangerous. With Voldemort-"

"You mean Tom Riddle?"

Pansy raised her head and looked at her old friend. "What?"

"I guess you haven't read the Quibbler." Tracey smiled. "I recommend you give the most recent chapter a read. It's...quite enlightening."

 _ ****~Slytherin Dorm, that night~****_

Pansy was sitting by a window, staring down at the paper that had turned the world upside down. Voldemort was a half blood named Tom Riddle? It was so insane she was extremely tempted to write it off as a hoax, but with the man having returned to the living world, only a fool or maniac – possibly both – would mock him like this unless it was true.

There was only one real place where this information could have come from. Harry Potter.

Pansy leaned against the window. Her head was hurting painfully. She had no idea how to react to this information. Her father was a loyal servant to the Dark Lord, and they all shared his hatred of muggleborns and half bloods.

Except _he_ was a half blood. Tom Riddle.

Pansy felt lonesome and confused. Sure, she knew that half bloods could be murderers – Aileen had proven that much with her murder. But why masquerade as a pure blood?

Because they made easy servants. Because they were so full of hate they were easy to mislead.

Pansy swore and hit her head against the stone wall. This confusion was making her head spin. She was uncomfortable and nervous and she didn't like it. She hadn't felt so nervous since...no, she didn't want to think about it. But she couldn't help it. The connection there was obvious.

 _Does my father know about this?_ She wondered.

Then she remembered Potter. He had seen her at her aunt's grave. Without thinking, she jumped to her feet and quietly stormed out into the hallway.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **A bit shorter than last time, but I hope you all like it!**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: (singing) You left me here like a chalk outline, on the sidewalk waiting for the rain to wash away...!**_

 _ **Tyene: Still zoned out to Three Days Grace over there?**_

 _ **Wanda: When you're feeling like crap for no obvious reason, writing and music is a balm for the soul.**_

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

 **Chapter 8: Revelations**

Harry stood on the bridge, looking out across the late evening sky. He wasn't technically supposed to be out here, even though he had moved out of the Gryffindor Tower and into the new home at Hogsmeade that Ayla and Lenore had gotten for him. But he wanted to be alone with his thoughts...and he knew that someone might be coming out to confront him.

The thought made him weary. He wished he had gotten a better sleep last night, but he had been so wrapped up in possibly being confronted by Dumbledore that his rest had been fitful. And for all he knew, one tactless move could push her further away rather than helping her face the darkness that had been broiling inside her since that night...

Thinking about it like that made the House Rings felt cold against his skin. The responsibility bearing down on him often felt crushing.

"Potter!"

Harry raised his head.

Yes, it was her. Pansy was running down the bridge towards him, the Quibbler in one hand. She wasn't classically pretty, but she had a soft charm to her that had been twisted whenever she was associated with Draco and his cronies. Her brown hair flew wildly around her face as she skidded to a halt in front of him, breathing heavily. _She must have run all the way here from the dorm rooms._

"Can I help you?" He asked calmly, turning away from the view and facing her.

Pansy took a deep breath and frowned up at him. "You can talk to me about _this_." She shoved the paper in his face. Sure enough, it was the front page expose about Tom Riddle and his childhood ambitions of eventually becoming Lord Voldemort. Luna's father had done his homework on the family, and it was showing. The Riddles were a family without magic, and probably would have stayed that way if Merope Gaunt, the last witch of the line before it officially went dead, hadn't become attracted to one Thomas Riddle Senior.

 _That's where the Gaunt ring came from,_ Harry had noted silently. _It was Riddle's ancestry on his mother's side._

"What is this?" Pansy demanded.

Calmly Harry pushed the page down enough so he could look her in the eye. "Well, to be honest I'm surprised you're reading it. I thought most Slytherins assumed the Quibbler was the ramblings of a lunatic."

"Even a lunatic wouldn't print something like this after Voldemort returned from the dead," Pansy said fiercely; Harry was surprised by her easy use of his name. Even Draco avoided using it, calling him 'the Dark Lord'. "You're the only one who would know about it."

"Why me?"

" _Because you're you!_ " Pansy snapped, nearly shouting. "Of course you know. You always know. You're probably the one who gave Lovegood this information."

"Alright. You got me." Harry took a step back and looked seriously at her. "I discovered this secret in my second year. Remember when the basilisk was attacking people? Riddle was controlling it with an artifact that contained, at the least, some of his memories from his teenage years. He tried to lure me in by using his name, and revealed the connection to me when I was in the chamber, trying to stop his plan."

Pansy stared at him. "You're surprised?" Harry guessed. "Well, that's understandable. He built himself up as the pure blood great? But in the end, he was a self hating man who wanted to destroy all muggles so he could forget his own muggle heritage."

"That's insane." Pansy said.

"You're expecting much logic from someone who calls himself 'Flight from Death'? Or has no nose?" Harry deadpanned. "I'm surprised you're not denying it."

Pansy snorted. "Don't lump me in with Draco. I'm not some thrice damned idiot. You never lie; I've seen that much for myself."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle slightly, raising his left hand. "That's funny. Umbridge didn't think so, and you were in her squad weren't you?"

"It was expected of me," Pansy snapped, feeling uncomfortable and taken off guard. She could see scars on Harry's hand saying, _I must not tell lies._ "Lucius and my father were in talks about us marrying. Where Draco went, I went."

"Didn't your father ask you what you wanted?"

"Stop redirecting this conversation! Tracey is your new fiance, why send her to talk to me?"

"I didn't send her," Harry said firmly. "She went to talk to you because she misses you, and the friendship you shared when you were little."

Pansy took a small step back. She definitely felt wrong footed. And Harry noticed this; she could tell because his expression shifted slightly. "Pansy, if you think Draco's an idiot, why stay with him?"

"Because he's my future." Pansy muttered tonelessly, repeating what her father had been saying to her for weeks since the engagement was put down to paper.

"That doesn't sound like much of a future."

"Why are you suddenly acting like you care about me?" Pansy fired back. "We've been enemies!"

"I haven't been an enemy, I haven't _known_ you." Harry responded, just as sharply. "Sure, all I saw at first was a friend of Draco and a coldhearted purist, but ever since I saw you in the graveyard I've discovered that was a mask."

Pansy stared silently at him, not wanting to give him any satisfaction with how unnerved he was making her. "So let me ask you something, Pansy," the green eyed boy said. "Why hate muggleborns and half bloods?"

Pansy gritted her teeth. "Why should I tell you?"

"You don't have to. I'm only asking. But I saw grief and anger in you at the graveyard, and I'm wondering where it came from."

"They proved to me they couldn't be trusted," Pansy bit out. "My aunt was everything to me, then she tried to run away with a half blood. She honestly thought he loved her, but he just wanted money and power. So he used her to try and get it. And when father caught him, he...!" She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let tears out. "He murdered her!"

"Did he?"

Pansy's head snapped up. Harry was looking at her seriously – no contempt, no cruel amusement or anything like that – in fact, he looked sort of concerned, and...

He was sad for her? Those dark, emerald green eyes were absolutely, quietly sad.

Pansy felt her stomach sinking. She'd seen that look before. That was the look of someone who knew something, and was debating whether or not it was a good idea to tell you.

"Are you sure?" Harry repeated. "Who told you? Your father, who like Lucius was a Death Eater in service to a false pure blood lord who was actually a half blood himself? His father, who hated muggleborns enough that he murdered at least three for the crime of crossing his path at Diagon Alley?"

"What...What are you saying!"

"Alys Davis told me about your aunt." Harry said. "You remember her? She was friends with your aunt, Aileen. She knew what really happened to her."

"I...!"

"Pansy, that half blood man – Travis Ansel – he wasn't a gold digger or an opportunist. He loved your aunt as much as she loved him. He wasn't the one who killed her."

"What?!"

"Your aunt was the victim of an honour killing. Perpetrated by her own family. By her brother and her father."

" _ **NO**_!"

Pansy stumbled a few steps back as though struck. The mental effect had been essentially the same. Denial raced through her, but Harry's eyes never changed. They were horribly gentle and sad. "My father said the spell was on his wand!"

"Which one? A bone breaking curse, to possibly throw off the opponent and hopefully escape? Or Avada Kedavera, the instant kill curse that would have been wiser and more effective to use?"

"I...!"

"Did anyone check Travis's wand? Did your father or grandfather offer their memories of the incident to prove the cause of Aileen's death? Or did everyone just take them at their word, as respected members of society?"

"I...I...!"

"Did people distrust Travis? Did they think he was trouble? Or was he known to be a friendly and amiable young man who rarely had a cross word to say about others?"

Harry kept looking into her eyes. Slight guilt flooded through his eyes as Pansy seemed to collapse more and more on herself the more he spoke. "Pansy, think about your father. Would he have given his blessing to such a marriage, if it was genuinely what Aileen wanted? Or would he have been enraged at the very idea?"

" _ **NO**_ _!_ " Pansy screamed, collapsing on the ground and burying her face in her hands. "Stop! _Stop, please..._ " Her voice broke down into helpless sobs.

She wanted to deny it, but Harry was making too much sense. It made her think of how Owen insisted that Aileen 'hadn't thought of herself as part of the family', how he always got angry when she was mentioned. How Aileen had argued with him and their father frequently. How she'd always been different from the family.

When she was a child, she had asked her father in a fit of rage if he'd even cared that Aileen was dead. Instead of saying that he did – which you would expect – he had just told her to calm down.

" _Auntie...no..._ "

Pansy was trembling violently, her hands going cold as she wept into them. She could hardly breathe. No matter what she tried to tell herself, she could never escape what she had known all along.

There was a soft crunch of dirt. Pansy blinked through the blurry curtain of her tears to see Harry kneeling in front of her, those green eyes sad and regretful.

"Don't touch me," she choked out. Harry obediently lowered his hand, but he didn't leave her, just sitting and waiting while she wept and leaned against the stone wall. He didn't say anything – he didn't judge, he didn't say anything stupid like all those people from her funeral. He just knelt there with her, empathy and understanding mixed into those deep green eyes. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Pansy remembered that he had dealt with loss too; his godfather, who had been his only real parent.

"How c-could he...?" Pansy whispered.

"I don't know, Pansy." Harry said quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've hurt you. I thought you deserved to know the truth."

Pansy hiccuped and coughed, shaking her head. Cautiously Harry reached out and gently brushed her hair away from her eyes. Her eyes were deep, dark blue pits of grief. When she didn't snap at him or push him away, he took her hand in his and silently offered her his support. Pansy sobbed slightly, before willingly leaning against him, seeking comfort.

Harry gently slid his arms around her back, and she pressed her head against his chest.

Harry held the crying girl in his arms, watching the sun go down. _It's a good thing I brought the Map,_ he thought distantly as he gently rubbed circles on her back. He wasn't sure how long they stayed there; the sun had fallen lower and the moon was rising, the winds growing cooler. Slowly Pansy's sobs let up somewhat, and her shivers died away.

"Hey. How are you?" He asked softly.

"I...I'll be okay."

"Are you sure? These things don't go away at once."

"I...am an heiress. I can control myself."

Harry was about to protest that she shouldn't think of herself like that, but stopped himself. It was clear that Pansy leaned on this thought process to manage her emotions; he couldn't berate her for that. He pulled back at bit and looked down at Pansy. She looked fragile and beautiful all at once; seeing her without her mask drove that home for him. He wondered if Draco would treat her well, should they marry.

Somehow, he doubted it.

Pansy slowly stood up, taking some calming breaths. Harry got up as well, watching her in concern. The dark haired Slytherin seemed to think for several seconds, a calmness passing across her face.

"Harry?"

"Yes?" He started slightly, she had just used his first name.

"Those rings...you've claimed Houses, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"...You defeated Riddle twice? Then...you've won Right of Conquest against him?"

"Yes. You've caught on quickly." Harry noted. Pansy turned her head towards him again, her eyes startlingly clear despite the tears still in her eyes.

"...Can you show me the Slytherin Ring? ...Unless you've promised it to someone?"

Harry shook his head. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the pair of emerald rings. "I haven't promised it to anyone yet. I actually didn't know I'd won it until last summer."

Pansy almost smiled. "I believe that." She said. She glanced over at him, and then out the window. "We should probably get back inside."

"Yeah," Harry said, putting the rings away. Together, they walked back to the school.

 _ ****~A Few Days Later~****_

Pansy had spent the few days in the library, looking up varying sorts of things. Harry hadn't spoken to her since then, though not by ignoring her or anything. She had just spent the days looking distracted, focused on something other than schoolwork.

On the fourth day, a Saturday, things changed a bit.

It was pouring rain that afternoon, so you could imagine Harry's surprise when there was a sharp knock on the front door. Walking over, he opened it and found himself face to face with a soaked and determined looking Pansy.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked.

Harry could only nod silently, and welcomed her into the house. Pansy wasn't dressed in her school robes, she was wearing a blue lacy top and a white skirt that vaguely reminded Harry of a _Pride and Prejudice_ adaptation he had seen through the grate at the Dursleys once. She pushed her hair away from her eyes and sat down at the front table, waiting for him to come to her.

"Harry, how much do you know about family magics?"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, which earned him a confused look from Pansy. "Sorry. I've just been getting those questions for two months now, and I swear every time all I've been able to do is shrug or say, 'a bit'."

Pansy cracked a slight smile in response, which he took as a win. "Well, you know how every wizard and witch is born with their magic?" He nodded. "With old families, that have developed their own brands of magic and traits specific to them, those are transferred down to the next Heir. Does that make sense?"

"Sort of." Harry said. "So, that refers to heredity traits like Parceltounge?"

"Yes. It also refers to rituals that augment the Heir's strength." Pansy said. "The power flow is tied to the family magic, which is determined by _who_ the Heir spells recognize as the next in line to the family."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Are you saying-?"

"Riddle certainly wasn't born the Heir of Slytherin." Pansy said, folding her hands on the table. "He would have accepted it through ritual and his connection to them through the Gaunt family. He wouldn't have been able to do that until he reached his majority...which, as I understand, was when he left Hogwarts and 'sought out dark magic', as our imbecile of a Headmaster put it."

"So he claimed dormant magic from House Slytherin?" Harry guessed.

"Magic is deeply connected to family." Pansy said softly. "That's the reason there _are_ muggleborns, or squibs. It's connected to the family. For ancient Houses like Slytherin, where the main line has gone dormant, the magic seals itself away, to be claimed by the next closest."

"What are you getting at, Pansy?"

"You claimed the House of Slytherin away from Riddle." Pansy said. "He lost the lordship, but since there still wasn't an Heir from the new lord, he continues to be able to use those magics, such as Parceltounge." She smiled slightly. "But if there was a new Heir to that house, those magics would abandon him and embrace the new heir."

Harry's eyes widened. "Holy hell. Is that really possible?"

Pansy's crooked smile intensified. "Yes. Trust me; no one knows more about inherited magics than a pure blood heiress who's intended to be a Malfoy bride."

She reached out and placed one pale hand on top of his. "So I had an idea. I...I want to get some justice for Aileen...for my aunt. Now that I know the truth, that justice is going to be taking down the world that made her murder possible. So...this is my plan. Elope with me – if not this weekend, then next weekend – and as Lady Slytherin, I'll give you an Heir to that House."

She smiled. "And Riddle will loose some of his great power."

"That's..." Harry couldn't deny the thought made him excited. He wasn't strong enough to face Voldemort and the moment, but if the man was weakened, he'd be able to face him!

It was only when he thought about it for a second that the obvious corollary hit him. "But wouldn't that mean-?"

Pansy nodded. "I can safely carry a child, Harry." She said. "If there's a safe house for me to stay – some nice place, under a Fieldus Charm – get me pregnant, hide me, and the power of Slytherin, magic, votes and everything – is lost to your biggest enemy."

"But Pansy...do you want to be a mother so young?"

Pansy's eyes flickered. "Do you know what I've always wanted, in a small corner of my heart that I tried to suppress?" When Harry shook his head, she responded, "I wanted to be loved. If you would love this child, and love me, than I'll do it with happiness as well as a fire for justice."

Harry let out a small breath. "Don't worry about the other wives. I know you must have some." Pansy said, eyeing his ring hand. "If you love me at all – not even with all your heart, but part of it – that's more than Draco would ever give me. I'll be content."

"I...if you really want, than..." Harry blushed. "Pansy, I've never, ever slept with a girl before. I don't know..."

Pansy actually giggled a bit, and good lord, it changed her face and eyes so much. "Neither have I, Harry."

Hesitantly, Harry pulled out the Slytherin rings and placed them on the table. "You're sure about this...?"

"Can you love me? Can you get me, and my auntie, justice?"

Green eyes met dark blue. Emotions were shared and understood, without a single word having to be spoken. "...Yeah. I can do that."

"Then yes. I am."

Harry then put on his version and gently slipped the Slytherin ring onto Pansy's. She smiled, and started tugging him towards the stairwell. "H-Hey. Right now?"

Pansy was still smiling. It made his heart warm. "Didn't you know, Harry? Love is in the rain."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **I can't wait to get to Tommy's reaction to that tidbit of information. Specifically, when it happens in the middle of one of his rallies. (snickers). One bride left, and Harry will be prepared to make his epic move against this barbaric world.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: Shorter chapter, I know, but it's the quiet section before things start to explode. I always like to add parts like that here and there, so I hope you all enjoy this elopement chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**_

 **Chapter 9: Semi Final Preparations**

The next week, Pansy and Harry officially eloped. It was during a Hogsmeade Weekend, so no one was really looking for either of them, which was helpful. Taking the Floo out of Hogwarts, they went into the city of London and after a transfer on the Knight Bus, found themselves at the foot of a cathedral. Harry had set everything up the previous Sunday.

Pansy smiled tentatively as the two of them walked inside. They weren't exactly dressed the part, but that was just part of elopement. Waiting there was a priest, four familiar girls, and...

"Weasley?" Pansy said in surprise, staring at Guinevere who was perched at the right side of the podium. The priest was waiting with an open book.

"Potter," The redhead corrected her. "I discovered something last year that Dumbledore hid since I was a little girl. I was born Guinevere Lillian Potter; I'm Harry's younger sister."

"Sister...?!" Pansy let out a rush of air and said, "And for all this time I was expecting you two to get married!"

"Not for lack of trying on Dumbledore and Percy's part," Guinevere responded, making a face. Pansy gagged, and the two girls shared a semi friendly smile. "It's nice to meet the real you, Pansy Parkinson."

"I'll say the same about you...Guinevere." Pansy said, shaking hands with the redhead. She then gave the younger girl a semi uncertain look. "Are you...really alright, with me marrying your brother?"

"I know why you acted and felt like you did," Guinevere responded, her smile becoming sympathetic. "And now you know the truth. I'm fine with you two marrying. I wouldn't wish Draco as a husband on anyone."

"Thank you," Pansy said softly.

Tracey jumped out of her spot in the pew, walked up and gave Pansy an unexpected hug around the middle. Pansy let out a small noise of surprise; something warm and gentle explode in her heart, and she returned the embrace like she would have when she was six. She had almost forgotten this warm feeling of camaraderie and compassion shared between friends; it was a wonder she had managed to go for so long without it.

Releasing her friend, Pansy's eyes flickered over to the pew where Tracey had been sitting. Daphne Greengrass smiled, in that maudlin way that proved she was planning for the storm, and waved her fingers. Luna Lovegood sat aside, her eyes distant; Pansy thought about how she had been jealous of how that blonde haired girl could disappear into another world and forget the bad things she had experienced.

"Hello, Lady Greengrass." She said shyly.

"Hello, Pansy. Please call me Daphne; we will effectively be family." Daphne said pleasantly. "Tori sends her regards; she wanted to be here but it would have been suspicious for us to both be out during the school year."

"That's kind of her," Pansy said softly. "You're Luna Lovegood, right?"

Luna smiled softly, and raised her hand. "Luna Peverell, now. Daddy was there for our marriage. It was late on Wednesday night."

"I'll be next," Tracey said. "Daphne's last because her whole family wants to celebrate with her. We plan to leave school during the Yule Holidays to be there for that."

"Winter is my favourite season," Daphne said, by way of explanation.

Pansy glanced back at Harry. "So that's where you went that evening. I was wondering when I went to bed alone."

Harry smiled sheepishly. "You've been a very sweet distraction, Pansy, but I can't forget the rest of my work. I think – at least, I hope – you and Luna will be sharing a home once, er, everything has been set in motion. Gwen found a great mansion at a lakefront; a good place to raise a family."

"Any luck yet?" Tracey asked, waving a hand at Pansy's stomach. Both teens blushed, while Gwen chuckled merrily.

"If I am, I haven't been able to tell yet." Pansy said shyly.

"Excuse me," The priest interrupted politely, "But our reservation doesn't last all afternoon. Shall we complete the ceremony or not?"

"Sorry sir." Harry said, flustered, bowing slightly to him. "Thank you for giving us your time."

The priest smiled, and gestured for Pansy to walk closer. The twosome joined hands, and the quiet ceremony began. Guinevere worked as the ringbearer while Tracey, Daphne and Luna were acting as the witnesses. Seeing as they were all wives, and Daphne was taking notes for a spread in the Daily Prophet when Pansy got pregnant, it was acceptable.

"I, Harry James Slytherin, do take Pansy Patricia Parkinson as my lawful wife from this day, until my last day. I swear to love and protect her and our children with all the power I possess."

I, Pansy Patricia Parkinson, do take Harry James Slytherin as my lawful husband from this day, until my last day. I swear to love him, and to protect our children with all the power I possess."

Guinevere handed Pansy the second ring as the priest intoned, "Then you are now Lord Harry James Slytherin and Lady Pansy Patricia Slytherin!"

Pansy hugged and kissed Harry, among polite claps and cheers among her soon to be sister wives and sister-in-law.

 **~Line Break~**

"Guinevere...I know it's a bit late, but I'm sorry for all the trouble I've given you over the years."

"I've already forgiven you, Pansy." Gwen said. "I'm sorry about what happened to your Aunt. I think, if I had been in your shoes, I might have acted the same way."

"I'm not proud of it, now. I hope that, between myself and my children, I can change Slytherin's reputation for the future." Pansy said, looking up at the sky as they waited for Luna to summon the Knight Bus.

"We'll all work on that," Tracey said as the bus appeared with a snap. "Our predecessors let Riddle turn us into the house of murderers and opportunists. If we help take him down, we can put that chapter of history behind us. Only then will we be free of the chains of the past."

"Chains can choke people," Daphne agreed. "It's funny that, when the parents sin, it's often the children who suffer the consequences."

"Not this time," Harry muttered. "Not this time."

They all climbed aboard and collapsed onto the various beds. Harry warned them that it was a three hour drive to the house itself, since there wasn't a Floo entrance established in the house for security reasons, nor were there any portkeys to it since the land was Unplottable. Pansy fell asleep quickly, having been quite tired after the stress of sneaking out of Hogwarts during which she had nearly been discovered by Draco. Daphne was meditating, while Tracey was reading a book. Guinevere was quietly talking with Harry about what was going to come next.

"Do you have any marital plans, Gwen?" Tracey asked curiously, glancing up from her book at the mention of the subject.

"Frankly, I can't think of anyone who's good enough for her," Harry responded tautly. "So no."

Guinevere rolled her eyes affectionately. "I'll just take your word for it, Harry. I've had a boyfriend before, but I can't say I was terribly impressed by him."

"There's nothing wrong with staying single," Tracey said, "I was just curious, given our current setup."

"I was hardly offended, Tracey, I was just offering my opinion on the matter," Harry explained.

Guinevere gave him a faux threatening look. "You better not be sticking to that when I run into a man I actually _want_ to marry, Mr Potter."

"Duly noted." Harry said, throwing his hands up fearfully. Both Tracey and Daphne chuckled, while Guinevere smirked.

Eventually, they did reach their destination. Tracey lightly shook Pansy awake, and the five of them walked out of the bus and were immediately struck by sweet, cool air coming off from the lake, which was a five minute walk away. The landscape Gwen had scoped out was indeed incredibly scenic, a stone pathway guarded by an intricate iron gate guarding the path to the house.

"Which name should be put on the gate? Or does it not matter?" Harry asked the girls, as he stepped forward and unlocked the chain on the gates.

"I think we should just call it Harry's Place," Guinevere suggested. Tracey nodded in agreement, while Pansy was just taking in the scenery.

"Hah...! I'm flattered." Harry chuckled, before opening the gate. The five of them started walking forward, mostly quiet, listening to the birds singing in the treetops as they prepared to migrate from the coming winter. The late night sun was splashing against the ground, hitting the multi coloured falling leaves and casting light upon the ground.

"How much property does this place cover?" Pansy asked.

"A couple square miles. There's plenty of paths you can use for hiking." Harry said. "Since we're putting the Fieldus Charm over it, I didn't want you all to be stuck inside this whole time."

"Good," Pansy said in relief. There were rumours of some heriesses who were never allowed to leave their homes in fear of a miscarriage. Harry wasn't going to force that on her, and that further reassured her that she had made the right choice.

Eventually they did reach the mansion, and Daphne made an impressed noise at the sight. It was a five story, modern day house painted red and gold, perched on a hill ten feet from the beach, six feet of sand and seashells before the water rushed in and out. Pansy and Tracey both looked at each other and smiled; their favourite place as children had been the Davis summer home, and this place was just as beautiful if not more.

"This will be home for us." Harry said. "Um, does everyone like it?"

"Oh yes!" "Absolutely." "It's the envy of most pure blood Manors." The girls agreed, virtually as one.

"Then let's go in," Harry said with a smile.

 _ ****~The Next Day~****_

Pansy woke up feeling sick.

She carefully disentangled herself from her new husband and rushed to the clean, white tiled bathroom – she had to admit, muggles had _fantastic_ taste in architecture – and vomited, hands shaking. She felt different, and a spark of hope rose in her chest.

Taking out her wand, she cast a spell her 'mother' had taught her right after she had gotten her first period. A blue glow greeted her.

The whole house was then woken by Pansy's joyful laughter. A new Heir of Slytherin had been brought into the world.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **So yeah, Pansy is now pregnant! Voldemort is in for a very nasty surprise next chapter! Neither is Draco, for that matter, when he finds out where Pansy went. (Get out the popcorn, everyone!)**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: (Fanning self) God it's hot!**_

 _ **Tyene: (fooling with the air conditioning, throws me a dirty look) You were just at the beach! I thought water was supposed to make you zen, not cause you to complain**_ **more _when you got back!_**

 ** _Wanda: I miss it already._**

 ** _Tyene: (grumbles)_**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Chapter 10: Crashing Down**

"Nagini, come to me. ...Nagini!"

"M...My lord? Who are you speaking to?"

Voldemort – Tom Riddle – sat up in his chair, staring down at the snake horcrux at his feet. She was sleeping, showing absolutely no sign that she was hearing his voice. This had never happened before. And his connection to her felt weak, despite her being his horcrux.

Then his eyes fell on the newspaper a terrified Peter Pettigrew had seen, dropped on the table and then hightailed it out of there. When Riddle read the headline, the room exploded with AK light, leaving dozens of dead bodies on the floor.

 _Slytherin House Revived – Lady Slytherin pregnant with the first Heir to the main house in three hundred years._

"I AM THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN!"

But even as he said this, Tom Riddle felt a stab of an unusual emotion – fear. He couldn't speak parceltougne anymore.

He had lost the power of the Slytherin Line. He needed to reclaim it at all costs.

Who was this false 'Lord of Slytherin?'

 _ ****~Elsewhere, near Harry's Place~****_

Hannah Abbot was fidgeting with her necklace as she stepped out of the car her parents had commissioned to bring them to this mystery destination...the place where Harry Potter was staying, allegedly. Beatrice looked down at a sheet of paper in her hands, and called out, "Castle Potter, Black, Peverell, Slytherin and Gaunt. 111 Heavens Gate." What had looked like uninhabited forest area shuddered, revealing a wrought iron gate with the words, "Harry's Place" written across the top. Hannah blinked, and glanced over at her best friend and technical step sister, Susan Bones. After the death of Susan's last parental influence, Amelia, Beatrice and Tobias had adopted Susan into their family – after all, the Abbots and the Bones had been long friends, and the twosome had been close as sisters ever since they met.

"You don't have to be so nervous, Hannah," Susan promised her friend, holding her wrist as Beatrice gestured for them to follow through the open gate. "Harry's the Prophecy Child. There's no better place for you to be."

"I guess I didn't imagine sharing my husband," Hannah admitted. "What if I don't get along with his other wives?"

"Oh, bullocks!" Susan said hotly, slapping her hand onto her friend/sister's shoulder. "You're _you_ , Hannah. You're sweet and friendly and you make everyone laugh. Everyone likes you! You're going to do just fine."

"I guess I wish I had talked to him before," Hannah said with a sigh. "I mean, after second year, the basilisk...I should have-"

"Should have what? You were always the first person standing up for him! He was just returning the favour when he warned you to close your eyes." Susan said.

Hannah had nearly been a victim of the basilisk in the second year, given her mixed pureblood/muggle born heritage. The creature had nearly come upon her in the hallway, but Harry had been there. Upon hearing it talking, Harry warned her to close her eyes, and lead her back to the safety of the Hufflepuff dorm. This happened only a few hours before he went down to the basement to rescue his sister, the mysterious Lady Potter.

"This is a beautiful place," Hannah mused, looking around the grassy lands. "I could probably cultivate a great garden here. With the lake nearby, good temperature, and different grounds to work on, there's all sorts of things I could raise."

"You're probably right. Just warn me where you plant the finger eating ones before I go for my walk." Susan said dryly.

"Are you seriously still mad about that?! I said sorry, and I warned you!" Hannah said, flustered.

"We're here, girls." Tobias called, as they stepped out into the sunlight. Hannah let out a small, impressed noise as she looked at the elegant, yet very modern house perched on the hill in front of the sparkling blue lake.

Hannah bit her lip, a bit uncertain of going in despite her knowledge of Harry, and Susan/her mother's soothing comments. Harry Potter had announced his resignation from Hogwarts quite abruptly two months ago, directly following a publicized Death Eater attack on muggle London. Any attempts to contact him had failed, even by the Headmaster. Two days later, there was a Daily Prophet spread about the Prophecy denoting Voldemort's potential downfall, and Harry's status as the Chosen One and the Prophecy child. The only other child who had fit the same criteria was Neville, who was recognized to be less powerful than Harry.

The Daily Prophet was owned by Daniel Greengrass. Just after this announcement, his family went under the Fieldus Charm at their summer home. Astoria and Daphne both left school at the same time; Daphne's betrothal to Lord Black had been announced two days earlier. The amazing thing about that is it wasn't Draco, as the boy had expected, but the timing lead some people to believe that Lord Black might be Harry – since the last Head of House had been Sirius Black, the exonerated too late godfather of the young man. Tracey Davis was pulled from school by her mother, who cited going into hiding due to the turbulent times.

 _Hogwarts wasn't safe anyone_ , she said.

Hannah snickered a bit. Draco had been having a very bad week. Not only did he discover he was _not,_ and never _was_ , going to be Lord Black, his fiance Pansy Parkinson eloped and vanished from the school, adding humiliation to insult to injury. A few days afterwards, the Slytherin Votes in the Wizamgot locked up completely, shutting out both Voldemort's supporters and the attempted proxies Dumbledore had set up...under the order of the new Lady Slytherin.

Even Draco was smart enough to connect the dots there.

Hannah had suspected that Harry was the Lord of Slytherin, and more, even before her mother and father had opened a line of dialogue with him about the settlement of the Life Debt and a marriage contract. If it was, then what had happened at the Wizamgot made perfect sense.

The Potter, Black, Slytherin, Davis, and Greengrass seats had all been frozen, and with their majorities not acting on any major decisions, the government was effectively paralyzed. The Slytherin house, by extension, was threatening to eject the former Slytherin 'proxies'. Voldemort was in a rage, which explained the varying attacks he had committed since. However, he had been completely unable to find his rival.

The door swung open, revealing Ayla from Ravenclaw. She smiled politely, eyes gleaming. "Lord and Lady Abbot. Lady Bones. Welcome." She bowed slightly. "Welcome to the House of Potter, Black and Slytherin. I'm Ayla Hydra, daughter of the Lord's lawyer."

"You're mother's Lenore, right? I've met her before. She's a shrewd woman." Tobias complimented. "Please, lead the way."

Ayla lead them into the spacious living room, through two hallways. The place was spacious, beautiful and lovely, but there weren't many pictures on the walls. The great sitting room on the first floor, and there were people already waiting for them. Harry was drinking tea, with Lenore and Alys sitting on his right and four girls on his right.

"Welcome!" Lord Harry Potter, Black, Slytherin, Gaunt and Peverell said warmly, waving the four in. "Welcome, Lord and Lady Abbot. Hannah. And...Susan? Hello, I wasn't expecting you here."

"I was adopted into the Abbot family after the death of my aunt." Susan explained, bowing her head.

Harry's expression became contrite. "Of course. Forgive me; I had forgotten. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

"Please, sit down. Let's talk shop." Harry said, gesturing to the couch directly across from him and his wives. A dreamy looking blonde, a redhead with a coy smile dressed as a muggle despite her noble look, a serious looking honey blonde girl wearing chain mail, a smiling heather haired girl with a slight baby bump, and another familiar redhead sitting at Harry's side with a smile.

"Tracey!?" Hannah said with a surprise.

"It's nice to see you, Hannah!" Tracey Potter responded, waving slightly. "Yes, it's me."

"Is that you, Weasley?" Susan asked, looking over at the redhead.

"Potter," Guinevere corrected. "I am the Lady Potter, Harry's long lost sister. I was hidden among the Weasley family after the deaths of our parents. My real name is Guinevere Potter."

Both Abbots looked genuinely surprised for a few second. Which was funny, because Tobias Abbot was a hard man to rattle, since he had lead men into battle multiple times over the course of his thirty five years of life. "Did you know this?" Beatrice asked.

Guinevere shook her head. "Not until I stumbled across it when sneaking into the Headmaster's office. He tried to arrange a marriage between us. I don't know if Molly and Arthur know, because I saw her memory being altered in the memory."

Hannah gagged, Susan looked revolted, and both Abbot parents scowled. "Good heavens." Beatrice said in disgust. "I hope you've done something about that."

"I have," Harry confirmed. "May I introduce myself and my companions again? I am Harry James Potter-Black, Lord of Slytherin, Gaunt and Peverell. This is my sister, Guinevere Lillian Potter, Lady Potter and joint Head of the Potter House."

"My first wife, Pansy Patricia Slytherin...who is now pregnant with the true Heir to that Ancient House." Pansy smiled uncertainly, waving her fingers. She hoped that neither Hannah or Susan hated her for how she had behaved at school.

Susan eased her concerns by chuckling. "You really missed out on Draco's reaction to you running off on him," she joked. "It was comedic gold."

"The only better response must be Voldemort's when he discovers he isn't the Heir of Slytherin anymore," Hannah added.

Harry nodded, chuckling quietly. "I imagine. My second wife, Luna Celeste Peverell."

"I remember you," Luna said to Hannah. "You told off Marietta when she tried to steal my bag once. I don't know if I ever thanked you for that, so I will now."

"The Peverells," Beatrice said with soft awe. "So they really do still exist."

"My third wife, Daphne Katrina Black...the Lady Knight of my Household and my war." Daphne bowed her head politely, smirking proudly at her longed for title.

"My fourth wife, Tracey Adelle Potter, sharing joint headship of House Potter and Mariarch of the main family." Tracey smiled shyly, waving her fingers.

"And finally, my confident and loyal assistants, without whos assistance I would still be hopelessly naieve and possibly dead." A wave of quiet laughter rippled through the room. "My lawyer and Master of Legal Affairs, Lenore Hydra, along with her daughter Ayla. My current Proxy for the Davis, Potter and Gaunt seats in the Wizamgot."

"So that's why they were frozen," Tobias guessed.

"Indeed," Harry affirmed. "Pansy is already in the process of evicting those 'politicians'" He said the word with sarcasm and distaste, "who had coasted into their role thanks to their connection to the Slytherin House at Hogwarts or the branches of the family. With the reactivation of Gaunt, our power to do so will be complete, and Dolores Umbridge will have to collect bottle caps on the street for her new source of income. Unless she has merits other than abusing children and shopping around racist laws."

"I doubt that," Hannah said sourly, brushing the back of her hand. She had only been in detention with Umbridge for a week – for standing up to her when the teacher threw slurs at Remus Lupin and other werewolves – but that had been long enough.

"I thought about throwing her in Azkaban," Pansy said with mock thought, "but I have a sense that being a powerless nobody is a much more fitting punishment for a grubby, hateful social climber like her."

Susan cackled at the thought, while Beatrice smirked. "It would certainly be poetic."

"So, you will take Hannah as your wife for Gaunt?" Tobias guessed, given that it was the only name that had not come up before.

"If she consents, yes." Harry explained. "I admit I didn't know your daughter very well, but my experience has been that Hannah is one of the few who stood up for me when the whole school turned against me, during both my second and fourth year. She's a kind soul, and with Gaunt's dark history, that's the only way things will be turned around."

"I consent," Hannah said, blinking. "You're really waiving the Life Debt?"

"I don't need a prize for doing the right thing," Harry said firmly. Beatrice smirked in approval, Tobias looked both surprised and suitably impressed with this boy's moral character, and Hannah smiled. Harry offered her the silver ring, and she took it.

"The Mercenary Guild is at your disposal. I assume they will go to Lady Knight Black for instructions?" Tobias guessed.

"With your assistance." Daphne Black said with a slight curtsy. "If we destroy enough of his forces, with his rage over loosing the Slytherin House, Tom Riddle will come to us." She smiled over at Susan, who grinned in understanding.

"When you kill a tyrant, you don't stab him in the dark," The young brown haired girl quoted, "you kill him where the whole court can see it."

Daphne nodded, and winked almost flirtatiously at the other girl. Susan hopped slightly in her seat. "Can I contribute the Bones seat to this adventure?"

Harry glanced over at her adoptive parents, silently asking for their permission. When Tobias tilted his head in acceptance, he shook Susan's hand and said, "Of course. There will be precautions to ensure your safety when we go to the Ministry." He assured her.

"So, we're going to walk up to the Ministry, lock down the corrupt court, announce the titles, and wave at the self proclaimed 'Dark Lord' to 'come and get me'?" Guinevere asked her brother.

When Harry smiled grimly, she chuckled and drained a glass of milk. "Sounds like fun."

 _ ****~The Next Day~****_

Dumbledore was surprised to see the embargo on the door to the Ministry had been lifted. He gestured for the Order, consisting of Arthur, Kingsley, Tonks, McGonagall, and Vance, to keep on their toes as they entered the building, along with Rufus and a handful of wizamgot members who had kept their roles in the parliment after the bizzare but forceful purge the previous day, which had thrown many members – including Umbridge – out onto the street via armed mercenaries.

The mercenaries were still there, armed with both wands and muggle machine guns. They were dressed in black, wearing the sigil of house Slytherin, coldly directing them further into the building towards the Senate Seats. Their presence was eerie and unnerving.

Finally, they were brought into the Chamber. And Dumbledore stopped cold.

Harry was lounging in the Minister seat, dressed in white and blue ceremonial robes that dated back to the time when the Potter family ruled as Kings and Queens in their own right. On a new chair, brought up just next to him, was a tall, beautiful young girl with red hair in a blue chain mail dress. Her brown eyes were glaring straight into him.

"So, the interlopers and graspers have arrived," Harry intoned coldly. His voice radiated authority and power. "Good. Go and sit. We have much to discuss."

"My boy-"

"Lord." Harry interrupted coldly. "I am Lord Harry Potter Peverell and Black, Slytherin and Gaunt, and I am nobody's _boy_. Go and sit, Dumbledore, and do not speak out of turn."

"G...Ginny?" Arthur asked gently, looking confused and uncertain. "What's...?"

The redhead's eyes softened just a bit. "You really didn't know, did you Arthur?" She stood up. "You raised me as your own daughter, never knowing that you had been given a Changeling by a manipulative old man."

Dumbledore paled. The redhead stabbed him with a glare. "Molly Weasley did in fact go barren after she gave birth to her son Ronald. My birth name is Guinevere Lillian Potter, and I was taken from my remaining family by a man who interferes too much." She sat down again. "You and your wife were kind and good to me, despite struggling to take care of yourselves. I am grateful for it."

Arthur teared up slightly, both sad and happy. Rufus, of course, interrupted the moment, yelling, "You're in my chair, Potter!"

"No, it is mine." Harry said calmly. "My houses control the maximum of the seats that were once the emissaries of the Kingdoms. I am descended from the Potters of Mu, and by that line of descendant – which you hold so dearly, pure bloods that you are – I am the ruler of this section of the world."

The girls nodded and smirked.

"Pansy! What are you _doing_ there!" Draco shrieked when he saw his former fiance sitting near Harry.

"I'm with my husband." Pansy said firmly. "And you will address me as _Lady Slytherin_ , Malfoy."

"Like hell! You are to be my wife! Lord Black is MY title! Potter! You've mocked me for too long! I demand a Blood Feud Duel!"

 **End Chapter**

 _ **For reference, Harry's outfit is based on Lelouch's Emperor getup from when he ascends in Code Geass. Meanwhile, Ginny's blue dress is based on Daenerys's blue scale dress from Season 3 of Game of Thrones. Also, aww Draco, you really think you can win by throwing one last temper tantrum? that's cute. But what will result from a Blood Fued Duel?**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: Shorter chapter, again, sorry about that. I had a bit of writer's block, which I think always happens when I start winding a story to a close - yes, I've managed to keep this story somewhat self contained. Yay, I'm learning! (throws confetti everywhere)**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**_

 **Chapter 11: The Purge**

Daphne and Alys had educated Harry on what a Blood Feud Duel encapsulated. Mainly, it was a duel to the death between two parties, with no outside help. After the fatal blow was struck, the titles, House legacy, and other assorted objects of the loser went to the individual still standing. In the distant past, it was how nobles settled their differences, and how a man who believed he was framed might be able to escape unjust persecution. In the modern day, the duel mode was usually a pathetically obvious power grab. Like Draco was doing right now.

What Draco didn't know was that, aside from Harry's own (rather impressive, Tobias Abbot had admitted) finesse with duelling and defence skills, he had been tutored further first by Alys, and then by Daken – the grizzled, feared leader of the Abbot's Mercenary Troop – in the art of war.

Daphne, Pansy and Tracey all exchanged smirks. They all knew that Draco stood no chance against their husband and King. Meanwhile, Ayla was all but sitting on the edge of her seat, resisting the urge to laugh.

"Your letting your arrogance run your mouth for you again, Malfoy," Harry said firmly. Beatrice had taught him how to speak 'in court', which is where his new cold confidence was coming from. "Do you really believe you can defeat a man who killed Voldemort as a child?"

A wave of flinches went through the crowd, including Draco himself. Harry's eyes narrowed. "Look at all of you! Have you become so craven that his mere name takes away all your courage? That you would rather do nothing than face someone who threatens your families and your children?!"

Rufus straightened up at this. The man was nothing if not shrewd, and he saw the new power radiating off Harry. "Old habits die hard, Your Grace." He said calmly, earning a stunned look from Dumbledore. The old man had gone to great lengths to ensure that Harry was distrusted by, and distrusted, the Ministry. "I had intended to mobilize when I entered office, but it seems that my predecessor allowed many toadies and bootlickers of the enemy into high office. Forgive me, I haven't had the chance to remove them yet."

Harry raised an eyebrow, surprise flitting across his face. He gave Lenore a quick, discreet look. The older woman nodded slightly. Rufus had rough edges, but he was determined and loyal to Britain itself. He would do anything to restore the country's strength and internal peace. "I see. Anyone who came on the heels of Fudge was bound to struggle." He said calmly.

"Ignoring me, Potter!" Draco shrieked, breaking up the conversation. Rufus glared daggers at the boy and his equally pissy, proud looking mother. "I challenged you! Are you too cowardly to answer?"

"I merely find you to be beneath my notice," Harry responded cuttingly. "Because frankly, my sister and I have greater problems to handle at the moment."

"Lord Potter," Hestia Jones, Rufus's loyal second in command, hedged uncertainly, "I absolutely agree with you, the young Malfoy is wasting our time. However, it's highly irregular for a challenge to go unanswered. I respect and accept your ascension, so I fear that ignoring it may be a blow to your image."

Narcissa glared furiously at the half blood auror, but Harry and Guinevere both looked contemplative. "I see. Thank you for your words of wisdom, Miss...?" Harry gave her a curious look.

"Jones. Hestia Jones, sub head of the DMLE at the moment. Sir." Hestia said, a bit flustered at being called 'miss'. Rufus gave her a proud sideways look, which caused her to straighten up even more.

"Who is your superior?"

"Alexander Parkinson, Your Grace."

"Hmph." Guinevere's eyes narrowed. "I see. Another one of Voldemort's toadies."

"Lord Parkinson was released.." Dumbledore started to protest, not liking where this was going. His plans for Harry did not include the boy or his sister wielding this sort of power. The fact that the twosome had managed to pull this off under his nose was incredibly galling already.

"...because he had gold, and Fudge liked to take handouts." Guinevere interrupted scathingly. Pansy's eyes narrowed at the mention of her uncle. She never liked the man, who gave her creepy lustful stares whenever he thought her father wasn't looking. "What a lovely sign of faith for our country, for the highest level of government to be flagrantly taking bribes."

Rufus let out an angry noise at that. "I couldn't agree more, M'lady. I had known about that for years, as I was rising through the auror ranks, but I was never able to prosecute him for it."

"Starting today, that comes to an end," Harry proclaimed, before standing up. His wives moved to form a line behind him as he walked down, Tracey taking his overcoat as he slid it off over his shoulders. "Perhaps starting with the family who thinks that their name means the whole world is theirs to exploit and torment. Draco, I warned you, and you did not back down. I hope you're ready for the consequences."

 **~Line Break~**

Harry grimaced as he looked down at Draco's dead body. Narcissa was screaming next to him, her hands stained with the blood from the gaping hole in his chest. He felt a mixture of guilt, regret, and exhaustion. Daphne had warned him about the 'chains of commanding'. You end up having to do some things you, personally, may not care for. Judging by the way Guinevere was standing rigidly, his sister was feeling similar.

"The Victor is our Lord Potter-Black..." Lenore started, before Harry raised a hand.

"And assorted titles. I don't wish to annoy everyone by having them repeated every time someone speaks to me," Harry said dryly, earning some chuckles from the assorted aurors and dignitaries who had witnesses the duel. Dumbledore, of course, looked upset, but his attempts to speak out of turn were shut down by Rufus.

The former Minister, now DMLE head again, seemed to be willing to throw his weight behind Harry as the new King of Magical Britain.

"So the name of Malfoy, the fiances and the land titles go to him."

"I think I have enough as it is," Harry said in a self deprecating manner, earning scattered laughter throughout the Ministry.

Dumbledore jerked. He was just about to stand up and protest, try to make Harry see that he was 'acting just like the men they meant to take down', only for the young man to pull the rug out from under him.

"Instead, I think I shall move the title to another who I have trust in." Harry turned his eyes towards Ayla, who was bouncing her seat and looking hopefully at him. "I doubt many of you know this, but Lucius Malfoy had sired a half blood on a muggle woman while his wife was pregnant; in flagrant defiance of the anti muggle baiting law that had been passed in the wake of our first conflict against Voldemort. The result of that abuse is sitting with my trusted Master of Legal Affairs. Ayla Hydra, please rise."

A huge ripple of surprised mutterings as Ayla stood up and walked over until she was standing two-three feet away from Harry. Then she knelt in front of him. Harry nodded at Daphne, who stepped forward and drew the ornate handled sword that had been buried in the Potter vault, from the time of Mu. "As the last, undisgraced member of that family by blood, I hereby transfer the name of Malfoy, and all that is attached to it, to you and your mother. I leave it in your hands."

Hestia Jones lead the clapping as Ayla Hydra Malfoy stood up again, smiled and curtsied before returning to her mother's side.

Harry and Guinevere returned to the duel Minister seats, Daphne, Tracey, Pansy and Hannah to the row beneath them. "Well," Harry projected his best kingly voice again, "Now that this has been dealt with, I recommend we return the important topic at hand. Lady Slytherin?"

Pansy stood up and faced the crowd. "I have found the 'proxies' who have entered the Ministry through my house to be extremely wanting." She announced, her voice frigid as ice. "They show no cunning, no wisdom to them. They are nothing but foolish cowards, bowing at the feet of a half blood pretending to be a dark messiah. I call upon all the Authority my house grants me, and I cast them out of the Ministry and the places where they have used the family name for their own purposes. So mote it be!"

Umbridge, who had been in her office, let out a shriek as she was suddenly teleported out of her office and was roughly dumped on the road.

"I imagine there are a number of important positions now left empty," Harry said dryly. "Rufus Scrimgeour, you are my new head of the DMLE. Might you lend me assistance with finding some trustworthy individuals to enter these stops?"

Rufus smiled. "Yes, of course. I'll put a list together for you before the end of today. Miss Jones?"

"Of course, sir." Hestia said promptly, before hurrying out of the room.

"Good." At this point in time, Hannah's father raised his hand. "I recognize Tobias Abbot. You have something to speak about?"

"Yes. I offer my family's Mercenary Guild to assist in the fight against Riddle and his followers. May no more people get harmed by him!" Tobias shouted. Several ragged cheers burst out.

"Permission granted. Take as many as you can."

 **End Chapter**

 _ **So next time, Death Eaters get curbstomped, Harry, Pansy and Guinevere discuss names for the little Heir of Slytherin, which Tracey interupts with surprise news, and Tom Riddle falls for a trap. Because he is not a smart enemy. Seriously, watch Code Geass, then reread Harry Potter and then realize what a flaming moron Riddle was.**_

 _ **Read and Review please!**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: And drawing to the conclusion! Cute moments with Voldemort in the background, because after a while you start running out of interesting ways of killing that imbecile. In Code Geass you can corner the various chess masters in so many different ways, because the plots are so intricate-**_

 ** _Tyene: Are you going to give the disclaimer, or are you going to go on another Code Geass fangirl rant?_**

 ** _Wanda: (glares at her) you might find yourself out of a job._**

 ** _Tyene: Oh, sure. Like you'd actually be able to handle all these plot bunny infestations, and writer's block ressurections, without me around._**

 ** _Wanda: (grumbles) I'll rant about the best anime ever if I want to!_**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (holyshitwhohasreadtheCursedChildyet?)**

 **Chapter 12: Demolition Man**

Pansy and Tracey were sitting in the art room at Harry's Place. Tracey was in the middle of another landscape painting; Pansy was sitting to her right, asking questions and mixing paints as her friend asked. The two had spent several hours catching up, talking about their feelings and their plans for the future. Luna had been with them for most of the afternoon, though she had gone outside a few minutes before, saying something about how 'the wakersprouts' were going to be coming out that evening and she'd like to see them.

The door swung open, admitting a tired and aggravated looking Harry. Pansy looked up, read his expression, and gestured to the couch she was sitting on – to the right of Tracey's sketchpad, who was sitting on a separate chair which was pointed on an angle towards the couch.

"Long day?" Pansy guessed.

"I will be much happier when I can completely defer the financial and fiscal concerns to Scrimgeour and Jones," Harry said with a groan. "I've had more fun watching _paint_ dry."

Tracey snickered. "Oh, the pains of being a King."

Pansy smiled slightly; she still didn't laugh as easily as the other girls, but she was working on it. Guinevere was doing her best to get the quiet girl to lighten up with harmless pranks, while Daphne offered plenty of laugh worthy statements in her characteristic dry deadpan.

"I think I may need to go straight to sleep tonight," Harry said with a sigh.

"Just as well," Pansy chuckled, placing a hand on her stomach. "I've been throwing up pretty consistently in the evenings."

"How is he?" Harry asked softly, placing a hand on top of Pansy's.

Pansy gave him a mild look. "It could be a girl." She pointed out.

Harry flushed lightly, but his smile remained the same. Boy or girl, he'd be the proudest father in the world. "Yeah. You want to talk names?"

"Aileen, for a girl." Pansy said softly.

"I like that. Aileen Euphemia Slytherin? I like that," Harry said. He had learned the name of his paternal grandmother from a chronology book.

"That sounds nice," Pansy agreed. "Now if it's a boy...hm." She certainly wasn't about to offer her father or uncle's names. Luckily, her husband had that covered.

"How about Jamie?" Harry offered. When Pansy nodded with a smile, he said, "Jamie for dad. Jamie Cedric Slytherin." Hannah, who had been walking by with a plate of snacks for Luna, smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

"I'm fine with that," Pansy said. She hadn't known Cedric, but she had been shaken by his death. It was so unnecessary and cruel.

"I like that. I was thinking maybe Alyson for my own girl." Tracey remarked. When both Harry and Pansy looked blankly at her, she, without looking up from her painting, announced, "I'm getting sick in the mornings, and it's all your fault Harry."

Harry gaped at her for a few seconds, before squeaking, "When?"

"When do you think?" Tracey drawled teasingly, referring to their wedding night several weeks ago.

Harry flushed. "I hadn't thought – I meant, when were you going to tell me?"

"When you noticed. Which you didn't." Tracey deadpanned.

"I've been distracted! This is amazing news!" Harry exclaimed, walking over and carefully hugging Tracey around the shoulders. Tracey smiled, reaching up with her free hand and messing with his black hair. She was rather hoping that her child would be born with her hair and Harry's eyes.

Pansy laughed and swatted at Tracey's arms. "You're the worst! You just had to surprise me, didn't you?"

"I like surprises," Tracey responded with a light grin.

"So if it's a girl, you'd like Alyson for her name?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah. Alyson Samantha-Adelle Potter." Tracey said, lightly painting another curve onto the castle in the sky she was painting. "If it's a boy, I'll be happy with Jared. Jared Edward Potter."

"Great." Harry said. "I like the sound of it. You know, this is giving me some comfort. Daphne's mom hasn't been very secretive of the fact she'd like multiple grandchildren."

Both girls laughed at Harry's nervous expression. Angela had, in fact, asked for grandchildren during the wedding. Cool cat Daphne had actually blushed when the subject came up, though Astoria looked excited at the thought of having little nieces and nephews to play with.

Hannah walked in about then, heading for the couch. Once she'd sat down, she said, "More word from my dad, Harry. The Mercenaries have cleared out another Death Eater den. No casualties on our side, but they've gotten at least thirty."

"That's great." Harry said, returning to sit next to her. "Did he offer a status report?"

"Well with this, we've gotten about ten victories without seeing the Dark Lord himself. Plus, mother looked into that Diary that possessed Gwen way back, and she deduced that it was a horcrux."

Harry grimaced. He had ended up reading about that, too – horcruxes helped cause the dissolution of Atlantis, by way of turning the King into a monster who massacred a stadium full of his own subjects out of paranoid rage. "I trust she knows how to handle it?"

"Of course. Mother suspects he may have made more, so she's ordering a sweep of any areas related to the Riddle family." Hannah added.

"Send her my gratitude. By the way, where's Susan?"

"Hanging out with Daphne and Gwen, swapping war stories." Hannah shook her head fondly. "They're getting along like a house on fire. It's really quite something."

"I'm glad she's enjoying herself." Harry said sincerely.

All of a sudden, the Floo activated. Harry let out a long groan, while Pansy and Hannah both patted his arms sympathetically. "Don't worry. We'll make sure you get a good night's rest." Hannah promised. Harry grinned wryly before standing up and heading towards the fireplace in the hallway.

 _ ****~Back at the Ministry~****_

"You're certain?" Harry asked, looking down at Scrimgeour and Jones.

"We're certain," Rufus asserted. "Riddle has been sighted, and he's headed this way."

"And it only took him the loss of half his forces," Harry deadpanned. "That man has no logic. It's amazing he has followers at all."

"He doesn't think he needs them. I imagine they're just there for his ego." Hestia Jones muttered, before blushing. However, Harry nodded approvingly.

"That sounds like him. Is the Ministry prepared?"

"Well start the general evacuation of everyone not in the Auror armed forces," Rufus responded. "I think the question is, are you prepared?"

"Always have been," Harry said grimly. "If I could kill him as a baby, I think I can kill him now. Especially with what I've learned and what I've achieved." The Slytherin and Black rings glowed brightly their respective colours at this comment.

"Very well. EVERYONE! GET TO WORK!"

 _ ****~A Few Hours Later~****_

Voldemort – Tom Riddle – was furious, and though he refused to acknowledge it as it was, deep inside he was a little afraid. The loss of Slytherin's power had been devastating. Several of his men had abandoned him when they realized he wasn't the Heir, while some fled while thinking that he had become much weaker. He had taught them the error of that belief – he had been the most powerful wizard ever before he became the heir, damn it – but now he could feel a difference in his power level.

And now the power had gone to POTTER. The fact made Riddle's blood boil.

The Aurors fell back to the inner chambers of the Ministry the moment he appeared. Had the man possessed a modicum of common sense, he would have wondered why, but he didn't so he plowed in. Standing in the middle of the hall, wearing Basilisk scale battle armour, was a calm and serious looking Harry Potter-Black.

"Fancy meeting you again, Riddle." He said coldly. "Shall we begin?"

 _ ****~Back at Harry's Place~****_

Guinevere glanced up at the sky. She, Luna, Daphne and Susan were all sitting on a blanket on the back lawn, listening to the lake water rush up against the beach and the birds chirping in the trees. Daphne gave her a curious look. "Something up, Gwen?"

"Just hoping my brother is being careful," Guinevere responded, before taking another bite of her muffin. Muffins were very popular among the wives.

"Don't worry too much, Gwen," Luna said simply. "Harry's never lost to him before."

"I know. It's just my job to worry." Gwen said, paraphrasing something Bill had said to her when she was young. The entire Weasley clan was being offered House Protection and Alliance from House Potter, and they had been invited to spend the weekend at Harry's Place in a week. Arthur and Molly had happily accepted. Ron had sent a long winded letter to Harry apologizing for the summer. Harry easily forgave his first friend, noting that most people did what Dumbledore said simply out of habit, because he projected an image of knowing everything in the world.

"Harry won't loose to that idiot," Daphne scoffed, buttering her muffin with a dainty hand. "With how I've prepared him? The troops? Nonsense."

Guinevere snickered. "Thanks Daphne. I can't argue with that."

"Good." Daphne said with mock seriousness. The girls all giggled a bit, while the sun started to set. It was setting over a new future, a new world, a new kingdom.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Dumbledore, time skip and lovely fluff due for next chapter! I hope you guys like it!**_

 ** _Read and Review please!_**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chaos of the Potter Family**

 _ **Wanda: And a final chapter that's more than a thousand words long! I'm thinking I'm getting better at this! I'm so happy about this, you have no idea. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I'm glad you all enjoyed it!**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!_**

 **Chapter 13: In with the New**

Dumbledore sat in his office, a year and a half after the defeat of Voldemort, pondering fate. He couldn't believe how quickly his plans for the future had fallen apart. He had expected Voldemort to claim the Ministry, allowing him to take the time needed to turn Harry into a marytr – a noble figure who, in death, would unite muggleborns and pure bloods alike to create a better world, under the guidance of the boy's brokenhearted mentor.

But instead, he was sitting here in the Headmaster's office, all his titles – Supreme Mugwump, Chief of the Wizamgot – outside of the school having been brutally removed. The only reason he was still Headmaster at Hogwarts was that McGonagall had vouged for him, and even then his power was heavily restricted. He couldn't make important decisions without thoroughly informing the other teachers what was happening, why, and why he thought it had to be done. Should enough of them disagree, he could be overruled.

At the moment, he was staring at the student registry – a list that picked up magical children, so offers of admission to Hogwarts could be given when they turned eleven. In fact, he'd been looking at the names that had shown up there for quite a while.

 _Aileen Euphemia Slytherin_

 _Alyson Samantha Adelle Potter_

 _Jared Edward Potter_

 _Delphini Cassiopeia Black_

 _Jace Daniel Black_

 _Clarissa Andrea Black-Greengrass_

He wasn't surprised that Daphne Black (nee Greengrass) had given birth to triplets – while her family was progressive, her father was just old fashioned enough to worry about having heirs to his house. Likely he'd convinced Daphne to take a fertility potion. The second girl could carry the Greengrass name, while the first to lead the House of Black. Perhaps not as traditional as he might have liked – heirs were usually male – but with Slytherin leading the example now, things were changing. That, and Astoria, who seemed to be spending odd amounts of time with Ron Weasley, could always give birth to boys on her own time.

Speaking of whom...it was the first name that upset him the most, if only because of how much he had miscalculated. Aileen, Heir to Slytherin. In official control of a fourth of his school, and a fourth of the wizamgot.

The presence of the new Heir of Slyherin explained how easily Harry had been able to defeat Voldemort, who should have killed him, who had seventy years of experience...The child, whom even in the womb, had disrupted all those carefully laid plans he had built up since the deaths of Lily and James.

Dumbledore had never posited that Pansy would defy her family and elope with a Gryffindor. Much less Potter. If he had, maybe things would have been different...

Oh, but it hadn't been Pansy who had gotten the ball rolling, had it? It had been Ginny.

Guinevere Potter.

Dumbledore rued the day he decided to preserve those memories. In fact, he rued that he hadn't done more to interfere, he should have left her in an orphanage, he should have ensured she was adopted overseas. He never should have let her stay, let her know her older brother, even if the eventual marriage between them would have bridged the gap between the radical Light sided notions that the Dark Side that needed to continue to exist for their country to flourish towards its best future. He should have locked up his office better. He should have known that Guinevere, despite her initial sweet, innocent nature, might have picked up on her adopted brother's tendencies to prank and sneak into places.

He had been so sure that Harry, swamped in his grief, wouldn't do anything with his summer, so only posted a single guard to monitor his activities – who was constantly distracted in his quest for stolen cauldrons, at that. It was no wonder the two had been able to sneak about under his nose...

Dumbledore's tired eyes flickered back to the page, a bit further down.

 _Amber Seline Dursley_

So that cousin, Dudley, must have helped with the deception...it would explain why Figg thought that Harry's absences meant he was spending time with his cousin's biker group...Dumbledore had thought that Harry's Potter inherited temper meant he'd never forgive the Durlseys – and that the compulsion he'd place on the family that magnified their unease regarding magic would prevent any of _them_ from giving a damn about him.

He had assumed too much. Dumbledore had been ensuring the future and stasis of the world for years since his confrontations with both Grindelwald and Voldemort had come onto the scene. His brilliance had eventually sank into his own mind as infallible, leading him to think he had planned out all contingencies, and that his impressions of people – therefore guessing what they would do and planning accordingly – were never wrong. He always made the right decisions, and the right judgments, no matter the cost...

And yet Harry, his sister, and his chosen wives had managed to pull a slip on him...Gringotts was probably involved with getting him in contact with Hydra (well, that was Malfoy now...at least for the daughter). And then Hydra would have assisted him with the betrothals Lily had planted...

Even in death, that woman was too spirited to be controlled...Lily must have set them up so Harry could take advantage of the system Dumbledore had gone through such careful measures to preserve... he had figured that once Voldemort died without issue (and he would, surely...even if his loyal Bellatrix would do anything for him, Riddle would never have the presence of mind to sire a child. A child that could, in his sickly mind, become a threat to him. Right?) he could step in and control the Slytherin house by virtue of being Chief of the Wizamgot and Supreme Mugwump...and then used its power, and Gryffindors, to shape the world as it needed to be...

Yet Lily leaving those contracts – for Peverell, giving him control of the Hallows, and Potter itself – had given Harry a crash course on the world Dumbledore had deliberately kept him apart from. Death did not prevent her from looking out for her son and daughter. Though perhaps some credit should be given to Sirius as well, for adopting Harry into his still-quite-politically-powerful family shortly before his death.

Guinevere had no contracts...Lily had correctly predicted that Dumbledore wouldn't make her part of the Grand Plan...but that seemed to be moot. Guinevere was getting along quite well with Neville Longbottom...Dumbledore's few remaining spies had reported the two laughing and joking with each other during a party a few weeks ago.

So far, Neville was the only man her age who spoke to her that Harry – _King_ Harry, Dumbledore remembered with a wince – showed even the slightest approval of.

King Harry had gone through all sorts of reforms, pushed through with the aide of his sister, wives, Alys Davis, the Greengrasses, the Longbottoms and Ayla Malfoy – enough to completely overwhelm all protests on the matters. Dragging this world towards the 21st century, Guinevere called it.

And now Luna Lovegood-Peverell was pregnant...likely Hannah Abbot-Gaunt was soon to follow, if only to assure the composition of Harry's powers and silencing any quibbles/attempts to insert a 'distantly related heir' into the house by the other purebloods. Dumbledore winced when he remembered some of the attempts...Guinevere had adopted the Weasley Temper as her own.

A sharp knock on the door distracted him from the lists. "Come in!" He barked, thinking it was Snape.

Instead, it was Ayla Malfoy. Followed by Susan Bones, rookie Auror, and an angry looking Remus and Nymphadora Lupin.

Dumbledore grimaced. It couldn't be anything good.

"Don't look like that," Ayla said waspishly. "You should be grateful it's me, instead of Pansy and Gwen, after I caught your _spy_ trying to get into Aileen's nursery."

Dumbledore whitened. He had warned Diggory to be careful, but it seems inflating the man's quiet grudge for Harry surviving instead of Cedric after the tournament hadn't gotten the results he wanted. He shouldn't have used so much of the potion!

"You're under arrest. Try to flee, and you're an international fugitive. I've already handled that paperwork. Try to spare your dignity, or whatever's left of it."

Dumbledore thought of escaping, but since Fawkes had left him, he had felt helpless. Everything he had tried to build was torn down as Harry and his family created this 'new world'. He wouldn't even know where to start to fix things, and he wasn't young anymore. Many of the Order had left him to help Harry. So he didn't try to run.

The old world was gone...and without it, what was he?

 _ ****~Time Skip~****_

"Are you worried about sorting?"

Aileen Slytherin, first year in that same house, said, "Really Duncan? It's our bloody last name. Gee, I wonder where we'll end up." Her dark brown hair was tied back in a single braid, her emerald green eyes flickering with annoyance as she regarded her prankster brother.

Duncan Tobias Gaunt chuckled loudly, leaning away from a slightly nervous Jamie Slytherin. The young boy brushed his messy black hair away from his blue eyes. "What if I don't qualify?" Her brother asked her plaintively.

"Nonsense," Aileen's cousin, Iris Dorea Longbottom, scolded, reaching over and ruffling Jamie's hair, to the boy's squeak of alarm. She had her mother's firey red hair and her wild temper, but she also had her father's emotional sensitivity. She was always the first one to stop fights. "Of course you'll qualify Jamie. You worry too much, but you're plenty smart. You just haven't grown into it yet."

The Great Hall was packed, with plenty of laughing, joking and whispering to go around. Aileen slipped over to the Slytherin table, sitting next to her sisters Clarissa and Delphini. Across the hall, their distant cousin Amber waved enthusiastically from the Hufflepuff table, while Jace, Alyson and Jared chatted up their fellow Gryffindors.

A hush came over the hall as the sorting started. McGonagall held up her list and started going through the names. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, listening for the names of the Princes and Princesses who were beginning their study of magic.

"Black, Jasmine!" The sassy blonde haired girl sauntered up to the seat, amid whistles and cheers from Clarissa and and Delphini. "SLYTHERIN!" Laughs and uproarious cheers erupted from the rechristened Slytherin house, who's reputation was already improved more in the last several years than in the seventy since Tom Riddle had once entered it.

"Black-Greengrass, Justin!" The blonde boy smiled wryly, doing his best to ignore the number of people watching him – he had never been good with crowds – and sat under the hat. "GRYFFINDOR!" The red and gold house cheered at receiving the first Black to their house since Sirius Black, decades before.

"Gaunt, Duncan!" The sandy haired boy shot Jamie a playful smirk as he walked up to the hat. He moved with confidence and swagger. His youngest brother, Michael, had been extremely put out at not being able to go at the platform. "HUFFLEPUFF!" Cheers erupted from the table, and Amber waved him over to the seat next to her.

"Greengrass-Weasley, Valerie!" The girl with golden-red hair ran up to the hat, unable to contain her enthusiasm. "GRYFFINDOR!" There were some jokes about 'no surprises there' and 'Weasley seed is strong!', but Valerie was welcomed with open arms.

"Greengrass-Weasley, Nikki!" Valerie's twin sister had to get a gentle push from Jamie to go forward, being more nervous and shy. Eventually, she reached the hat, and was put in "HUFFLEPUFF!" to the encouraging acclaim of everyone.

"Longbottom, Iris!" Jace whooped and cheered the loudest of all as his favourite cousin walked up to the hat. Those cheers escalated to war whooping as the hat proclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!", sending Iris to the house of red and gold.

"Peverell, Pandora!" A rush of murmurs followed Pandora II as she walked up to the hat. She had shimmering silver hair and green eyes, giving her a very ethereal and spirit like look. Lightly she sat down and asked, "Ravenclaw please!" "RAVENCLAW!" Pandora smiled warmly as she walked over to the table, nodding at her sister who was waiting in line.

"Peverell, Tauriel!" Tauriel, in contrast to her fraternal twin sister, had sleek, night black hair and blue eyes like her mother. She had slightly mischievous smile which, instead of looking like a spirit, gave her the look of a fox or a trickster. "RAVENCLAW!"

"Potter, Euphemia!" The red haired girl with storm grey eyes walked forward with slight uncertainty, glancing back at Jamie as she walked. When her half brother smiled encouragingly, she sat on the stool and waited to be sorted. It only took a minute. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Euphemia quickly scampered over to join Duncan and Amber, to the cheers of the house. Alyson and Jared Potter both clapped from Gryffindor, though they were slightly disappointed their little sister wasn't sharing their house. Euphemia was a sweet, loving girl, and a joy to her parents, her aunts, and anyone who spent time with her.

"Slytherin, Jamie!"

A slight hush descended over the hall as Jamie stepped forward, looking much like his father when he first arrived at Hogwarts. Aileen smiled gently at him as he glanced frantically at her, searching for support. She waved compassionately. Jamie squared his shoulders and forced himself to walk forward to the hat. Behind him, his twin sister Shirley Lily Slytherin, was waiting in anticipation for her turn.

The hat sit on his head for two minutes before proclaiming, "SLYTHERIN!" Jamie let out a large gasp of relief, running over to join his older sister. Aileen wrapped an arm around his shoulders while Delphini punched his shoulder affectionately.

"Slytherin, Shirley!"

Shirley walked towards the hat, slowly but with purpose, twisting a strand of her heather brown hair between her fingers. McGonagall saw a spark in her green eyes; hope, passion, and energy. She thought something was special about this girl, just as she had thought about Harry himself years ago.

Shirley sat under the hat, and the room quieted, straining to hear the princess's whispered conversation with the hat. After a few minutes, the hat proclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The school sat in stunned silence for a moment, as Shirley stood up. Her shirt was red and gold, while her pants were green with silver chains embroidered on them. It signalled her mixed heritage, and now her living bridge between two houses that have been at war for centuries. Lead by her brothers and sisters, Hogwarts exploded with cheering and laughter that threatened to take off the roof.

 **End Chapter**

 _ **Thank you for reading!  
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